To See Beyond the Red Line
by Acrilys
Summary: After rescuing a blonde from the streets, Sasuke learns to care, to love, to be human, but when said blonde suddenly dissapears, Sasuke is left devastated. One year later, by some twist of fate, Sasuke comes to Naruto's rescue once more.
1. Chapter 1: Rain

_Hi guys. I'm new at this so I would just really appreciate helpful comments and GENTLE criticism. I'll start writing more chapters if this story gets 5 reviews, which is probably not going to happen, but one can never stop hoping. I was going to write an epilogue, but I realized if it's too vague, people might not be interested in this story, so well, here's the first chapter. I hope you guys like it!(:_

_PS: Sasuke and Naruto in this story are in their twenties, but Naruto is a few years younger than Sasuke. I'm not going to name any specific ages because I don't want to ruin the image. OH. And this is AU, and most authors make Sasuke a businessman in their AU stories, but I'm going to have him own a business too, BUT, I'm going to make him. . . . a writer! Yayy! Just imagine. Imagine :D And I might have some of my own characters in this story, you never know. . . You never know._

_PSS: If you read my profile, you already know I'm not good at editing, so any reviews about wrong grammar, or spelling/punctuation errors, etc. etc. are grateful welcomed and appreciated. Thank you._

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters except maybe a few characters I make up myself. All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto-sensei.**

No warnings so far, except maybe kind of bad language.

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><p>Chapter 1: Rain<p>

_Rain splattered on the grey asphalt as blurs of people rushed by, complaining how the weather report claimed there would be no rain until the next day. Their umbrellas became distorted spots of colors as the rain fell down harder and the wind blew stronger, drawing in more dark clouds. No one noticed the dirty, scrawny blond boy hiding in the shadows. His face and clothes were dirty and wet because he had no shelter from the rain, and people kept splashing him as they ran to the nearest awning. He didn't look like he was dying, just maybe a bit dazed, but he looked a little on the skinny side and he looked far from okay. He repeatedly swayed, eyes wavering shut until the sounds of tires screeching and the screams of car horns brought him back to reality._

Bright, blue eyes shot open as a nearby car tire screeched before turning a corner to avoid hitting innocent pedestrians. The rain was still falling, thoroughly drenching him in cold water. But the boy didn't mind. He was starting to lose feeling in most parts of his body anyway. He was waiting, waiting, until unconsciousness pulled him back into cool, numbing darkness. He didn't like reality. Reality was bright red, unconsciousness was a comforting nothing. It was as simple as that, but the busy streets, the honking cars, and the screeching tires kept the poor boy from his goal. He closed his eyes letting the icy needles pelt his face, until the rain suddenly stopped. He couldn't feel the stinging droplets anymore. _What the heck?_ He peeked one eye open, only to see black, not the dark sky, but something else, an umbrella? Now the boy thought he was dead, but he had hoped death was more sparkly and pretty and bright. This was, this was just dark and now, he wondered if he went to hell, but he couldn't recall doing anything so bad in his life. Then, a velvety voice rang out, soft as the clouds, but also cutting like lightning. "Hey, get up." But before the blonde could even utter a sound, he fell to the ground, his back sliding off the brick wall supporting his back, with a soft thud. And before he knew it, he was back in that comforting darkness.

~~~x~~~

Uchiha Sasuke was not a sympathetic person. He was cold and guarded, not caring for anyone, but those he deemed as "friends" and "family". He did not look twice at a person, nor did he even look once. No one particularly stood out to him. Day after day, every face he saw was a blur, just another person in this world. But even when someone did stand out, he wasn't one to treat them drastically different than others. He would simple acknowledge their presence, nothing more, nothing less. So why was he in his car, to his house, with an unconscious stranger? He tried to think of all possible reasons. The blonde caught his eye, he had never seen someone with so natural, bright hair, and, although Sasuke only caught a glimpse of them, eyes that would make even the sky and ocean envious. But still, Sasuke had never done anything like this when someone caught his eye. The boy was practically dying in the streets. It would be too selfish to just leave him in the rain to die. But Sasuke was never one for sympathy. The blond was special, Sasuke concluded, because he himself had no idea what impulse caused him to physically lift the blonde up, getting his expensive suit wet, and carry him to his car, without an umbrella.

He made a sharp turn to avoid hitting another car. He was thinking too much, he needed to focus, focus, on driving. He was already dead tired from all the deadlines that had already been long gone, but he managed to get in all his stories before his editor nearly killed him. Sasuke liked to stay on task, but when it came to writing, he always found a reason to slack off. When he first started, he was dead scared of his editor and always, and I mean always turned in his stories a good week before it was due, but time has passed, and he had gotten used to his editor's screams and graphic threats to end his life. Uchiha Sasuke, praised novelist and the renowned owner of Akaime (1) Corps, a business that specialized in selling products, from books to candy. Needless to say, he was a very successful man who was content with his life, without counting the countless women who found the need to waste their lives flirting with him, aiming to be his girl.

Back to topic, Sasuke was dead tired, mind, body, and soul, so he would have liked to be home by now, in his bed, sleeping, but no, he just had to feel nice and rescue a random blonde from the streets. He huffed, pushing down harder against the gas pedal, so he could get home faster.

When Sasuke reached his house, or rather, apartment, he almost forgot about the blonde in the back seat of his car, almost. It was too hard to miss that bright blond hair, so it was quite easy to see from one of his car mirrors. He sighed, already regretting his decision, but now that he was already at his house, he couldn't just abandon the boy now. Besides, the blonde looked quite peaceful when he's sleeping, or, unconscious, either way, the boy looked almost happy. Sasuke opened the door to his car and as carefully and gently as he could manage, dragged the boy out the car, and carried the blonde up the rest of the way to his apartment.

"You're pretty light you know. You should eat more." Sasuke thought out loud. "Why were you even out on the stree-" He cut himself off. What the _hell_ was he _doing? _He was talking to an unconsciousness man! Sasuke shook his head. He hasn't been acting like himself these days. _It's probably Iruka _(2) _calling me every damn night to see if the damn manuscripts were done._Sasuke mused as he walked to his room in silence.

When he reached his bedroom, he gracefully and gently, dumped the blonde on his bed, and stared at the fragile body. _Now what? _Sasuke had no idea what to do now. He has never taken care of anyone before in his life. When his parents got sick, the other parent, or his brother would take care of them. When his brother was sick, one of his friends would take care of him, so Sasuke had no reason at all to learn things like first-aid, or CPR, or how to wake up an unconscious person. He stared some more, studying the man's features. The man had smooth, tan skin, bright hair that put the sun to shame, and, as Sasuke recalled, bright blue eyes that anyone would get lost in. He inched forward and noticed three, thin lines on each side of the man's face. Sasuke frowned, leaned forward and traced own of the lines with his thumb, Tattoos? Sasuke could feel each line just at the tip of his fingertips, so he concluded that it was not a tattoo, because you can't feel a tattoo, right? Scars? Sasuke thought it was a possibility and decided to ask the blonde about them later.

Sasuke mentally calculated the steps he thought would be most beneficial in this situation. _Okay, first things first. Take off his clothes. _Sasuke chuckled at how perverted he sounded, letting his childish nature show, and corrected his thoughts. _Take of his clothes, and replace them with dry ones._ He nodded to himself, and started peeling away the articles of clothing, one by one, which was not a lot. The blonde only had one layer of clothing on, but just because there wasn't much to take off, didn't mean it wasn't hard. The clothes stuck on the blonde's smooth, tan skin, making every piece a battle for Sasuke to rip off the boy. He gradually worked out every article until the man was down to his boxers.

Sasuke, being the sheltered man that he was, did not wanted to see anymore than what was already visible, so he simply draped the blanket over the tan body and walked out to get a pair of comfortable, dry pajamas. After digging through his drawers, he found a pair of soft, cotton pajamas that looked like it would be the perfect size for the blonde. Sasuke had an eye for these things, so he knew. On his way back to his room, he reminded himself to ask for the blonde's name when he woke up.

~~~x~~~

Warm, it was warm, and he felt safe, although he had no idea where he was, he was warm, and, happy so he didn't mind. A small smile graced his lips as he slowly opened his eyes, only to shut them tightly as his poor eyes were assaulted with the piercing light on the ceiling. Naruto yelped and quickly covered his eyes with his hands. "My eyes! Turn off the light." He managed to moan out. Then he realized he was alone, in a large bed with crimson, silk sheets. He looked around and realized he did not notice anything in this room. Not one thing here was familiar to him. Naruto jolted up, immediately wishing he had not because his head pounded like a drum and he fell ungracefully, back to the sheets. Then, did he realized that he was basically naked. He tore the sheets off of him, thankful that he still had his boxers on, but now, more confused than ever. And right when he was about to run the hell out of there, half naked or not, the door opened and a handsome, pale, dark haired man stepped in, with a pair of cream colored pajamas sitting on top of his hands. Naruto stared and the man stared back. The man was pale, and had black hair spiked up in the back in, a duck butt? He had dark orbs as eyes that seemed as impassive as ever and his facial emotions showed not even a slimmer of emotion. The man had some bangs, but his forehead was shown and his hair lined his high cheekbones perfectly.

"Oh, so you're awake now." Sasuke spoke out first, as he walked to the bed and threw the pair of clothing at the blonde. "Get dressed and take a shower. You're pretty dirty. Or you could just go take a shower and change after. I'll leave undergarments and other things you might need in front of the door." And with that, he walked out, but stopped when he heard a voice ring out.

"Wait! Why the hell am I almost naked on a bed huh? Did you rape me, you pervert!" Naruto yelled out. Sasuke stopped at his tracks. What did that dobe call him? A pervert? Sasuke turned from impassive to fuming. He was mad. He basically saved that man's life and that's how he treats him. Well fine, two can play at that game.

"Excuse me for giving a helping hand to the homeless. For your information, I haven't touched you other than when I tried to get your clothes off." And before the blonde could interrupt with a stupid comment, Sasuke continued, "Would you have rather had me leave your clothes on so you could freeze to death? You don't know a thing so before you start calling names, think of the situation you're in. You should be grateful, dobe." Sasuke scoffed.

Naruto sputtered. "D-dobe?" Now Naruto wasn't so fluent in Japanese, but he knew well enough that "dobe" was not something you call a stranger. Sasuke smirked. This guy was fun to play with and he was easily flustered, but when he suddenly fell on the bed, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a pang of worry and rushed to the bed.

"Hey hey, are you okay?" Sasuke asked, "Don't strain yourself. Do you need help getting to the bathroom?"

Naruto shook his head and pushed Sasuke away and stuck out his tongue. "Like I would need a pervert to help me to the bathroom." Naruto teased. "Just tell me where it is."

Sasuke nodded and gave him the directions as to where the bathroom was. But before the blonde stepped out the room, he asked a sudden question. "What's your name?"

Sasuke blinked a few times, surprised by the sudden question. "Uchiha Sasuke. What's yours?"

"Uzumaki Naruto-ttebayo! Well, anyways, thanks Sasuke, you know, for not just leaving me there. I appreciate it." And with that said, he walked to the bathroom, careful to lock the door behind him and turned on the water, waiting, rather impatiently for the water to heat to a nice, hot temperature.

In the bedroom, the faintest of smiles ghosted on Sasuke's lips. "You're welcome, dobe."

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><p>(1) Akaime Corps. Just a random name I thought of. I'm pretty sure it means "red eye(s)" and Sasuke, Sharingan, etc. I was gonna do Uchiha Corps, but that's just soooo boring.<p>

(2) Umino Iruka. He's going to be Sasuke's editor in this story. And Kakashi's going to be in this story too so expect some KakaIru!

Okay done! How'd you guys like the first chapter? If you like it and you want more, be sure to leave a review and recommend this story to your friends, 'cause you're not getting more chapters without 5 reviews. Aha I'm sorry. I know, I hate waiting for the next chapter too, but I don't want to post anymore chapters if no one's going to read them. If you find any errors PM me please!~


	2. Chapter 2: Fragments

Hi guys, I'm back! I was disappointed because I didn't get 5 reviews, but I had like 6 or 7 people that subscribed and/or favorited this story so I figured that was good enough. Thank you to **dragonfire04 **for writing my first review! Yayyyy! :D And thank you to everyone who reviewed, subscribed, or favorited this story. I appreciate it, and I need them to keep writing. They're my M O T I V A T I O N.

This chapter has more dialogue in it because I thought the other chapter didn't have enough, aha. And I know not much happens in this chapter, but it'll get better, I promise!

Yeah the rating changed because I realized that the plan I had for this story won't work if I don't switch the rating to "M". I'm sorry for the people who didn't want to read an M rated story. Also, this IS a Hurt/Comfort story so expect the hurt, but remember the comfort will always come sooner or later.

PS: I took out my OC because some people didn't like her. Hahaha Oh well, this is the changed version and I think I actually like it better because Iruka and Kakashi in it. And Kakashi's my favorite character in Naruto. Yayy! So please re-read this chapter[:

I need to change one little thing in Chapter 1 so you probably don't have to re-read chapter 1 again.

**Disclaimer: I don't own this. All characters from Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto-sensei.**

_Warning: Bad language, kind of?_

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><p><span>Chapter 2: Fragments<span>

Steam rose in the beautifully decorated, marble floored bathroom as Naruto hummed his favorite tune while he scrubbed himself clean. It's been a while since he had a nice, hot shower. The hot water was turning his skin red, and the needles were making his scratched and cuts sting, but he didn't mind. _Ahh, this is heaven. _Naruto smiled contently, just standing in the stream of water letting his sore arms hang loosely by his sides. Suds of soap ran down his smooth back while he shook his head to get his bangs out of his eyes. Naruto was content, no he was more than that. He was just plain happy. _This sure feels nice. I never knew hot water could feel this- Grooooowwl. _His thoughts of contentment were sharply interrupted by a loud growl from his stomach. Naruto scowled. He wished that bastard had given him something to eat, so he could enjoy his shower. Well, just like the raven said, he wasn't one to talk. He really should be grateful that Sasuke brought him to his apartment. He wasn't expecting a random stranger to help him. How could he? Everyone that passed him always looked the other way, as if they were trying to ignore him. How long has it been since he ended up on the streets? _It's been a while._ He flinched as he remembered how he ended up on the streets, with no friends, no family, nothing.

~~~x~~~

"_Okasan (1) look! I got in, I got in! Aoyama Gakuin University (2) here I come!" Naruto whooped into the air. His mom would be so happy and proud of him. Naruto bit his bottom lip. _**I hope this scholarship is enough so Okasan won't freak out when I tell her I'm gay.**

_Kushina rushed in the room and grabbed the letter from her son's hands and squealed in joy and pride. "As expected from my intelligent son! Naruto congratulations! I'll treat you to anywhere you want! Maybe a formal restaurant? Oh! I bet you want some Ichiraku Ramen right? We'll go there right now, you can eat as many bowls as you want!" She hugged his son so tightly that he couldn't breathe at all._

"_Uh-uhm O-okasan, le-let me b-b-breathe!" The last word came out in a rush as Kushina released her death like grip on his neck. He scratched the back of his head._

"_Ah, before we go, Okasan, can I tell you something really, really important?" He asked in a childish voice and used his puppy dog eyes, just in case._

_Kushina gave a big smile, "Anything Naruto."_

_Naruto nodded, thinking it was now or never. He took a deep breath and let everything out in one, rushed sentence. "I'm gay and I think I've been gay for a year now and I didn't want to tell you but I think right now is the perfect time and now that that's over with, why don't we get some ramen now?" Naruto smiled sheepishly, but on the inside, he was shaking like a leaf, nervous as hell._

_It was so sudden, how quick the mood changed, from happy and fluffy to anger and sadness. The change was so obvious that you could actually feel the change in the air, as if the temperature just suddenly dropped to zero._

"_You're what?" Kushina screamed at her son, "You're GAY?"_

_Naruto froze and he almost faltered. He hasn't even confirmed his mom's question and he was already thinking he shouldn't have told her. He whimpered, but nodded his head, not daring to meet the red-head's eyes .He was a grown man now, but his mom still scared him, as is he was still a little kid. Kushina roughly grabbed him by his shirt, and slapped his cheeks, left, right, left, right. "You little good for nothing piece of trash! Have you forgotten what those kind of people did to your father! How can you become one of them! Forget college, forget this house! Get out! GET OUT!" Kushina shrieked, "My son, my son is a fag! Oh, Ohhh!" She turned around and sobbed in her hands, shoulders shaking violently._

_Naruto was frozen in shock. He just couldn't believe that his usual gentle, loving mom just roughly slapped him and told him to get out. He just couldn't believe it. He hesitantly and cautiously approached his mom and tried to put his hands on her shoulders, hoping to calm her down._

"_O-Okasan, I-" He was interrupted by a slap to his hands. _

"_Don't call me that! I am NOT you're Okasan. Didn't I tell you to get out? GET OUT!" _

"_B-but." Naruto stammered, tears blurring his vision of his enraged mom._

"_GET OUT!" Kushina roared, lunging for the blonde. That was it, it was enough for Naruto to run out the house without any of his possessions, and never go back._

~~~x~~~

He remembered he could still hear his mother's shrieks when he was a street across from his house. Suddenly, a loud knock on the door awoke him from his flashbacks.

"Hey dobe, you done yet? Don't tell me you drowned in there." Sasuke called out from the other side of the door. "Hurry and get out. I called a friend over and he's bringing some food."

Naruto frowned and shook his head to try and get his head back in track. "Yeah sorry, the water just feels sooo good." Naruto called back in a childish manner, "But I'll be out soon."

Actually, the water did not feel as good as it did before. The water that was once steaming hot was now only lukewarm. _Well, my showers ruined, might as well get out. _Naruto grunted, turned off the water, and slid the door open. _Hmmm, he said a friend was bringing him some food? Mmm food sounds really good right now. _And a loud growl from his stomach showed just how much his stomach agreed with him.

Naruto giggled and patted his stomach, "Don't worry, you'll be fed soon. Sasuke said his friend is bringing some food." He hurriedly dried himself off and opened the door just a little, to peek outside. The only thing he saw was a pair of pajamas on the floor and a bag of toiletries next to it. He grabbed it and closed the door behind him with a loud slam. He got dressed and walked out with a towel over his head.

"Yooo Sasuke-teme, where's your friend, I'm hungry!" Naruto called out as he made his way through the hallway to the kitchen. For an apartment, Sasuke's house was pretty big. There, in a dainty, dark, mahogany table, sat Sasuke, changed in a comfortable pair of pants.

"Who were you talking to in the showers?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow, catching Naruto off guard.

He blushed and tried to think of an excuse when he was saved by someone slamming open the door.

"Konbawa (3) Sasuke!" A tan man with dark brown hair in a ponytail stepped in the door with an umbrella at hand. He looked very young and naive despite his true age. One could even say he looked innocent. He had a completely childish face except for the scar that ran across his nose, ruining his flawless complexion. Then, out of nowhere, a silver haired man jumped out from behind.

"Konbawa." He had silver hair that was lifted upwards, and he wore a mask covering half of his face, and his left eye had a scar running down it. The man raised his hands as if to wave, while his other hand was holding a basket. Sasuke nodded to them, and the two stepped in.

_What the heck, why do they BOTH have scars? _Naruto randomly thought as he watched them walk inside the apartment. Right when the brunette and the silver haired man reached the table, the brunette finally seemed to notice Naruto's presence and gave him a warm smile.

"So you are Naturo-kun?" He asked, very curious that his novelist would rescue a stranger from the streets. He slowly made his was to the blonde, Kakashi trailing behind.

"Y-yeah I'm Naruto. So who are you guys?" Naruto asked in a friendly manner. He knew those people were older than him, but he didn't want to speak in a very respectful way. That was just not like him.

"I'm Umino Iruka, Sasuke's editor, pleased to meet you." Iruka spoke as he handed his card to Naruto. As soon as the silver saw his lover hand out his card to a stranger, he did the same too.

"Here, take my card too." Kakashi handed out, with a rather cheerful expression. Naruto stared at the cards in his hand and started reading it aloud.

"Umino Iruka, Chief Editor of Marikiyo (4) Publishing. Hatake Kakashi, Executive Producer of Marikiyo Publishing," He paused for a while, then realized these people held a higher ranking in their job, "Ohh you guys must make a lot of money." He joked, but couldn't help but feel a bit of envy. He was someone who, at the time, had nothing at all. His head jolted up when Kakashi started talking.

"Oooh, I could see why Sasuke picked you up. He needs something to relieve his stress, isn't that right Sasuke?" Kakashi joked as he tossed his head towards the raven. Sasuke only raised an eyebrow while Naruto sputtered and flushed a very deep shade of red.

"W-w-w-what are you talking about? No way no way! And besides, he's a guy, a guy!" Naruto waved his arms frantically and he tried to convince the silver otherwise. He knew he shouldn't be talking because he, himself was gay, but no one had to know that. He didn't want to risk being kicked out again. Iruka laughed and patted Naruto on the back.

"Don't worry, he was just joking." He said reassuringly, still laughing at how flustered the blonde was. Behind, Kakashi was laughing away, while Sasuke only held an amused look. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention and started talking.

"Well, now that introductions are done, let's eat. I believe Naruto said that he was hungry." Kakashi nodded and placed the basket at the center of the table, sat down, and motioned his lover to sit next to him, leaving only one more seat next to Sasuke to the blonde. Naruto slowly walked to the table and pulled the chair out slowly, so it wouldn't make any noise scraping across the floor.

Iruka clapped and said, "Let's eat!" as he reached over the table and opened the basket. Naruto couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. There wasn't much in the basket at the center of the table, just a few onigiri (5) and a small box of fruits.

"Hey hey, now what's with that disappointed face? Don't worry, Iruka-chan's onigiri are the best!" Kakashi said, with upturned u's as his eyes, as he reached for one and took a large bite, chewing rather loudly, obviously letting everyone in the room know what he was enjoying the rice ball. Naruto thought that was enough and he grabbed one too.

"Itadakimasu!" (6) and he too, took a large bite and swallowed only after a few bites. His eyes lit up at the taste of real food, and broke out in a large smile.

"Wow these are soo goooood!" Naruto spoke as he took another large bite and swallowed very fast.

Iruka nodded happily, but warned Naruto to eat slower. "Hey don't eat so fast, you'll choke." As if on cue, Naruto choked and started coughing. Sasuke reached out and awkwardly patted his back while Iruka grabbed the pitcher of water and poured some in Naruto's cup. Naruto immediately grabbed the cup and downed the water in one gulp and slammed the cup back down. After he calmed himself down, he continued eating his onigiri, but this time, taking smaller bites and chewing more carefully.

Iruka nodded and reached for a rice ball, gave it to Sasuke, and grabbed another one for himself. Sasuke unwrapped the onigiri and took a small bite, not liking big bites of anything, and chewed slowly. He studied the blonde remembering the thin lines that ruined the flawless skin of the blonde. He swallowed, and continued to try to guess what those lines were. _Maybe they are tattoos? Or scars? Or…birthmarks? _Sasuke shook his head, birthmarks? Really? How could they be birthmarks? You can't have 3 birthmarks that were almost exactly the same on each side of your face. His train of thoughts was interrupted by a chuckle from Kakashi and a question from the blonde.

"What're you staring at? Do I have something on my face?" Naruto slowly asked, reaching for his right cheek, then suddenly smirked and continued on, "Or am I just so hot that you couldn't help staring?"

Kakashi guffawed, immediately taking a liking to the blonde. He threw his head back in laughter and almost fell backwards off his chair, while Sasuke sputtered, not knowing what to say to that, until he regained his cool composure. He cleared his throat and replied coolly, "Why would I think _you're _hot? I have no interest in people like you. And I was staring at those strange lines you have on your cheeks."

Those words seemed to catch the attention of everyone at the table. Now both Iruka and Kakashi was also in the conversation.

"Yeah I was wondering too. It was one of the first things that caught my attention when I first saw you. It's not every day you see someone with whisker like lines on their faces. Right, Iruka?" Kakashi spoke as Iruka nodded along with his words. All three stared at Naruto, waiting for him to answer, making Naruto fidget in his chair nervously. He scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "It's a tattoo." Was his short answer.

Now, both Sasuke and Iruka looked just stupefied, while Kakashi looked a bit disappointed. He was expecting a more interesting story. A tattoo was just too boring. Iruka had his mouth gaping open while Sasuke, being more cool and composed, just openly stared. _A tattoo? Really? Who would get a tattoo on their freaking face? _

Now Naruto was really nervous and was doing whatever he could do to not feel so awkward; scratch the back of his head, play with the sleeves of his shirt, stare at the food on the table, and not meet their eyes. Never meet their eyes. He never did well when people stared at him. Deciding to finally try to stop their unending stares, he cleared his throat and slowly began. "Well, I'm flattered with the attention, but please stop staring, okay? It's just a tattoo, get over it. You guys act like you've never seen a tattoo in your life."

Iruka immediately loomed over Naruto, taking a closer look at the so called tattoos.

"Can I touch them?" Iruka asked, but his fingertips were already tracing the thin lines. Kakashi glared at the interaction with envy. He didn't think it was fair how his lover just openly touched a stranger's face while he was so shy when he was with him? Kakashi made his way towards them, circled his arms around Iruka's waist, and dragged him away from Naruto.

"He's my boyfriend, Naruto, so don't touch." Kakashi explained cooly. Naruto immediately started stammering again.

"W-what! I wasn't even doing anything! And he was the one that came to made and asked if he could touch my face!" Officially starting the arguement between Naruto and Kakashi, while Iruka just stood nearby, trying to calm them both down.

Sasuke just watched the interaction between the three. This was the most entertainment he had since, well, who knew. He couldn't hold in the bubbly feeling building up in his chest, and a small chuckle escaped from his mouth, immediately freezing the silver and the blonde.

Three heads whipped around, Naruto's mouth twitching as Iruka stared incredulously. He's been doing that a lot ever since he stepped in this apartment.

"D-did you just hear that?" Iruka asked, "He laughed!" He was then dragged away, back to the table by Kakashi, who prompted him to sit next to him. Kakashi was actually quite amused by the stupefied expression on Naruto's face and was even more entertained at his confused question.

"What do you mean he laughed? Everyone laughs, no biggie right?" He just looked back and forth from Kakashi, Iruka, and Sasuke.

"Well, not our certain Sasuke. He usually never laughs or chuckles. It's weird right?" The brunette chuckled, and started a conversation with Sasuke about meetings, and his work, and other things Naruto didn't care about. He dazed off a little, thinking back to the trivial arguement he had with Kakashi. Then, as sudden realization dawned upon him, he interrupted Iruka's and Sasuke's conversation.

"Wait, Kakashi said that Iruka was his boyfriend!" He suddenly spoke, causing all three of them to stare at him strangely, wondering what has caused the sudden outburst.

Sasuke nodded and replied, "Yes, Kakashi and Iruka are lovers. Do you have a problem with it?" Although Sasuke wasn't one to care about others, he was familiar with Kakashi and Iruka since his childhood years, and did not like it when people were rude about their relationship.

Naruto rapidly shook his head and raised his hands out in front of him, "No no no no! I mean I'm gay too so I'm not one to talk right?" and he immediately covered his mouth at the sudden confession. "I-I mean-" His words were cut off by the large, antique grandfather clock ringing in the hallway. THe room fell silent as the clock rang 11 times, causing Iruka to bolt up.

"Ah! It's already eleven. I gotta get going and start editing Sasuke's _late_ manuscripts." Emphasizing the late in his sentence with a glare to Sasuke. "See you around Naruto. Bye Sasuke." He called out as he waited patiently for Kakashi to come. The silver slowly got up and made his way to the door, but before he walked out, he turned back.

"Well you too, have a _nice_ night. Naruto, you might be interested in Sasuke's sexual preferences. You should ask him about it later." and he walked out the door to meet his lover, leaving Naruto and Sasuke in awkward silence.

Both were already done with their rice balls and the only sound that filled the room with the sound of the rain hitting the windowsills. It would have been a nice and calming moment if not for the awkwardness hanging in the air. Now, Naruto was curious. _Was Sasuke gay or bi or something? I guess I'll just have to ask. _But before he could, Sasuke spoke up, "So how'd you end up on the streets? No job? Bad education? Your parents not want you?" Naruto visibly flinched, and for a split second, Sasuke actually felt bad, surprising himself. First, he helped a random stranger on the streets and now he felt bad hurting said stranger's feelings? Just _what _was wrong with him?

Naruto's eyes daze as flashbacks of his screaming mother raced through his head, but before he could get lost in the, he blocked out all the images. He swallowed, and shared his story with the raven.

~~~x~~~

When he was speaking, he was out of breath, and tears were welling up in his eyes. He realized he had been staring at the now empty basket located at the center of the table. He slowly raised his eyes to meet the onyx orbs, only to be quite surprised to see that Sasuke's expression had remained impassive. One could say he even looked bored.

"Are you done? I'm tired and I would like to get some sleep now." Sasuke spoke indifferently. He knew he was being rude and blunt, but he just didn't care right now. He just wanted to get some freaking sleep. He promised himself that he would apologize to the blonde tomorrow. His thoughts were immediately changed when he saw the hurt written all over Naruto's face and kicked himself inwardly.

Naruto was very shocked and hurt by the careless reply but his emotions quickly shifted from hurt to anger. He wiped the tears in his eyes with his sleeve and stood up.

"You were the one who asked me why I ended up on the streets, and so I did! Couldn't you have at least pretended to care?" Naruto raged, tears of frustration quickly replacing the tears Naruto just wiped off.

Sasuke flinched, not expecting the sudden outburst, but knowing he deserved it. He slowly stood up and placed both his hands on the blonde's shoulders, hoping to calm him down, and apologized. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired and cranky and not being myself. I'm sorry your mother did not accept your sexuality and you're welcome to stay here as long as you'd like."

Sasuke and Naruto stared at each other for a good minute or so until Naruto finally calmed down and nodded. Then, as if Sasuke's offer just reached him, Naruto broke into a bright smile.

"Wait, I can stay here!" he beamed. The mood changing drastically.

Sasuke nodded slowly, "Of course. You wouldn't think I'd throw you out on the street." Sasuke spoke in a slightly teasing manner. The sudden mood change was not something Sasuke was used to but he went along with it anyways, not wanting to have to face a raging Naruto again.

Naruto was very happy to hear this and hugged Sasuke very, very tightly. "Thanks again Sasuke!"

Sasuke, a person who hasn't been hugged very often in his life, could only stand there, body rigid, until he finally raised one hand and awkwardly gave Naruto a one-armed hug back. When Naruto backed off, Sasuke started to slowly walk to his room, but before he was completely out of Naruto's view, he looked back at the blonde.

"Oh, and just to tell you, I don't have a guest room so you'll be sleeping on the couch in the living room or on the floor in my bedroom. Take your choice. Well, with that said, oyasumi (7)." And he disappeared into his room, leaving the blonde staring incredulously, with his mouth gaping open.

Naruto wailed out, "W-what! You selfish teme, that's not fair!"

* * *

><p>(1) Okasan means mom in Japanese.<p>

(2) Aoyama Gakuin University is located in Shibuya, Tokyo and is Japan's #21 top college, university.

(3) Konbawa means "Good Afternoon" in Japanese

(4) Marikiyo Publishing. Another name I thought of. Doesn't know what it means, just thought it sounded like an okay name for an editing/publishing company.

(5) Onigiri - Rice ball snack.

(6) Itadakimasu is something you say before you eat. Roughly translates to "Let's eat" but can also mean "I will receive."

(7) Oyasumi means good night in Japanese.

* * *

><p>PS. If my using Japanese romanji is getting annoying, tell me and I'll stop using them.<p>

Well I hope this chapter wasn't too boring. I felt that "Naruto's flashback" was too rushed but…I had to fit that somewhere. And I hope I didn't offend anyone by using the word "fag". I was really hesitant on using it because I hate that word.

Okaayy if I get 4 more reviews/subscriptions/favorites , next chapter will be up.

Well, until the next chapter, bye~

* * *

><p><strong><span>Edited Note:<span>** Okay so I changed the chapter a bit because some people didn't like my OC?  
>Personally, I"m thankful for that opinion, because I felt the story would flow more smoothly now and I am much more happier with this chapter and this chapter turned out longer so thank you<strong> Celtick Chick<strong> for your opinion. Whoo! :D

Okayy so I got a lot more people that subscribed so next chapter will be up probably Friday night, maybe earlier, if not, then on Saturday. haha I'm sooo happy right now~~~ I got wayyy more hits than before. I wasn't expecting it :D

Remember to PM me on any mistakes on grammar or spelling or punctuation or anything.

PS: What's the difference between "hits" and "visitors"? Please help, I'm really confused because I don't know what the difference is.


	3. Chapter 3: Charm

Hey everyone! I'm soo sorry I couldn't get this uploaded by Friday! I had a school dance and when I got back, I was DEAD TIRED, but I was still planning to work on this story but my freaking sister brought her friends over to our house and they were working on this project and one of her friends needed to research something so my sister was all like, "Hey you don' t need to use your computer right now right? (friend's name) you can just use her computer."

But I was working on the freaking story but they still basically pushed me out of my computer. GRRRR. And I got kind of distracted before because I started watching this new anime called Monochrome Factor. Aha sorry x_x

And I was really busy earlier today but I finally finished, Yay!

**Disclaimer: I do not own this. All rights to Masashi Kishimoto**

_Warnings: Slight one sided NejiNaru. very little SasuNaru? Jealous Sasuke_

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Charm<p>

Sasuke awoke with the birds chirping outside, the sun filtering in the closed blinds, and the feeling of warmth surrounding him. He swore it felt like a body was pressing against him and someone's arms were around him, but he was too dazed to realize the fact. Instead, he closed his eyes again and tried to fall asleep again, until he tried to pull the blankets closer to him and found out that it was very hard to move his arms up, as if something was restraining him. Sasuke's eyes shot open and he indeed felt an arm around him. He bolted up and pushed whatever that was on him off of him and onto the floor.

"Oomph!" Naruto grunted as he hit the floor, face flat, in a large thud, dragging the blankets off of the bed.

"Oww." Naruto whimpered as he rubbed his forehead.

"N-Naruto! What the hell were you doing on _my_ bed?" Sasuke screamed. Naruto looked at the fuming Sasuke, who actually, did not look as scary with his hair disheveled in, actually, a kind of cute way. Although his hair was still spiked up from behind, there were some flyaway spikes that stuck out to the sides and his bangs were a little messed up. Naruto grinned at how different Sasuke looked when he just looked up and giggled.

"Y-you know, you're kinda cute when you wake up."

Sasuke scowled. _Cute? Did that idiot just call him cute? The great Uchiha Sasuke, cute? _He grabbed a pillow and launched at Naruto, hitting his target perfectly. When the pillow fell from Naruto's face, it revealed a stunned look that made Sasuke smirk.

"You deserved that you know. Well get up and get dressed. I have extra clothes in my closet, try to find something that fits you, but don't ruin anything. Got it?" Sasuke gave Naruto a warning look before getting off his bed to take a shower.

He slammed the door behind him, making the blonde jump a bit. Then, Naruto jumped up and happily flopped himself on Sasuke's bed, completely ignoring the raven's instructions. He couldn't help himself from grabbing the blankets and the pillows and burrowing himself deep in the warmth and comfort. Soon enough, he was already asleep with a small smile on his face.

~~~x~~~

Sasuke finished showering in about ten minutes and came out of the bathroom shirtless while drying his hair with a towel. As he walked to his room, he called out, "Naruto, if you're hungry, there's food in the counters and the fridge. Just look around to find something to your tastes, but don't eat all…my…food."

He trailed off when he reached his room and saw the blonde, sound asleep on his bed, again. Sasuke frowned and was about to wake up the blonde in a very unpleasant way, until he saw how attractive the blonde looked when he was asleep. It wasn't the incredibly hot and sexy kind of attractiveness; it was more of the calming, alluring kind.

His breathing was slow and even, and he looked very cute when he started snuggling with the large pillow he was currently hugging. Sasuke started walking closer to the bed, footsteps light and quiet, so he wouldn't awake the blonde. When he reached the bed side, he reached out a hand and brushed his fingers on the blonde's cheeks, feeling the dark lines once again. He then moved to feel the blonde's hair, surprised to find it amazingly soft and silky.

When he felt the blonde twitch underneath him, he immediately withdrew his hands and spoke up.

"So you fell asleep again? Wake up." Sasuke shook Naruto's shoulders, "I said wake up." Sasuke said a little louder, until the blonde finally opened his eyes.

"Hmm?" Naruto replied rather unintelligently, his words slurred from sleep. 'Whaddya want, Sasuke?"

Sasuke replied, "After I get dressed, I'm leaving for work soon so go find breakfast around the house, okay?"

The reply made Naruto jump up.

"Wait! You don't eat breakfast?." Naruto asked, now fully awake.

"I pick up something to eat on my way to work." He shrugged.

"Well if you're going to work right now, what do I do all day, huh?" Naruto complained, "I'm going to be soooooo bored."

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes and sighed. "I don't know, just stay in the house, don't pick up the phone or answer the door, and stay out of trouble." He emphasized the last part with a glare to the blonde. He then grabbed a dark pair of jeans and a semi-casual shirt and started changing completely unaware at the staring blonde.

Naruto swallowed, as his eyes traced Sasuke's pale, flawless back as he changed. He flushed just a little and immediately turned his head away to avoid staring even more. Then, a sudden though raced through his brain.

_Naruto, you might be interested in Sasuke's sexual preferences. You should ask him about it later._

Naruto's eyes immediately brightened up at the sudden remembrance.

"Oh yeah, Sasuke! Are you gay?"

Sasuke's head whipped around, very surprised by the abrupt and blunt question. He narrowed his eyes.

"And why would you ask me that?" He spoke coolly.

Naruto started twiddling with his thumbs, deciding to not meet the raven's gaze.

"Well, I just remembered Kakashi saying that I might be interested in your sexual preferences and that I should ask you about them later, and so, I'm asking you now."

There was a long, uncomfortable pause until Sasuke finally answered. He was done dressing by then.

"Yeah I am." Was his short reply before he walked out to the front door and made his way out, locking the door behind him, leaving a stunned Naruto behind. He was actually so shocked by the honest, but blunt, reply that left his jaws practically on the floor. _Did I hear right? He's gay? _

He felt a weird feeling in his stomach, and he immediately excused it has him being hungry. There was just no way that the knowledge of knowing that Sasuke was gay would get him nervous. Just no way. He leaped out of the bed and headed towards the bathroom to freshen up. After he was done, he walked towards the kitchen to look for something to eat, his stomach growling. Now, he knew for sure that he was hungry. He first looked around the cupboards for something quick and easy to make, like Cup Ramen, but he found none.

He dejectedly headed towards the refrigerator and decided he was going to have to actually make his breakfast. When he opened the refrigerator, he was ecstatic to find it filled with different kinds of food and ingredients. _I could make a whole banquet with what's in here! _

He always loved cooking (And baking, although he would never admit it), and he was pretty good at it too, so when he saw all the food in the fridge, he couldn't help but think of all the kinds of breakfast he could make, eggs and bacon, omelets, waffles, pancakes, anything!

But in the end, he decided to go for a light breakfast of pancakes with a bowl of berries and yogurt. He found the pancake mix and the oil he needed and immediately got to work. After he was done making the pancakes, he set the hot plate down on the table and grabbed an empty glass bowl and took out some strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries from the refrigerator along with a tub of plain yogurt. He threw most of the berries into the bowl and put a big dollop of yogurt on top. He poured himself a glass or orange juice, since he was not a milk person, and sat down.

"Itadakimasu!" He said happily and he chomped down on his homemade breakfast. He ate the pancakes very fast at first, but as his stomach started filling up, he ate slower, stopping every now and then to either drink some orange juice, or eat some fruit and yogurt. When he was done with his breakfast, he placed the dishes in the sink, wondering whether to wash them or not. In the end, he decided he would wash them anyways because he realized that if he became a burden to the raven, he might get kicked out.

He hurriedly washed the dishes and made his way into the living room. He flopped himself down on one of the couches, sinking into the seat. He sat there for a few minutes, and reached over for the remote. He turned on the television and flipped through some channels. He stopped when something interesting came up, but nothing seemed to entertain him for long.

First he watched a Japanese game show that made him laugh, then a Korean drama that made him cry. In the end, he decided to just turn the television off and wander around the house. He ventured into a room with a closed door, so he was surprised to find it unlocked. He slowly walked in and saw the room was rather small. It had a computer on a simple wooden desk, a lamp, and a large bookshelf filled with books.

Naruto stared at the shelf in wonder. He loved reading, although he would never admit it. Reading gave his mind a sense of calmness and it was easy to pass the time. His eyes scanned the shelf and a deep blue book caught his attention. Unfortunately, the book was at the top shelf so no matter how much Naruto tried to reach for it, he just could not grab it. It was times like these where he despised his height.

He looked around for a chair, but found a stool instead. He quickly grabbed it and stood on it, his fingers finally grabbing their prize. He quickly grabbed the book and flopped down on Sasuke's desk, and began reading the title out loud.

"The Sky Through Ocean Eyes. Hm, sounds interesting enough." And he immediately began reading.

~~~x~~~

After about 2 hours or so, Naruto slowly closed the book with tears in his eyes. He knew he was being too sappy but the book was very touching, yet very sad. It was then he realized the name on the book was very familiar. He quickly flipped the book on its back and read the author's name.

"Uchiha Sasuke," He paused for a while. "Ehhh? That Sasuke wrote this?"

Naruto was shocked. Sasuke barely showed any emotion and he seemed apathetic and careless, so it was very hard to believe that he could write such a touching book. Naruto shrugged. _Well everyone has a hidden talent. _He eagerly looked through the bookshelves to look for more intriguing books, and he suddenly stopped at a pretty, yellow book. Naruto eagerly reached for it, because most of the books on the bookshelf were more of a dark, deep color, instead of something so light and fluffy like yellow.

"Overflow. Hm, that's such a simple name." His eyes trailed down the book and realized that the author's name was different.

"Aoyami Daisuke? (1) Maybe a different pen name?" Naruto shrugged and opened up the book to read. The cover and the title were too vague. The title page was a pale yellow color with only a picture of a rubber duck on the cover.

~~~x~~~

The plot was interesting enough and the story built up well, but as soon as he was done reading, he slammed the book closed; his face flushed a deep red. All he could do was stare at the book, wondering just what Sasuke was thinking when he was writing this, this, porn book!

The scenes were very well described, as if Sasuke has been there recording everything that happened with the characters in the book. Naruto didn't even think about it, and when he heard the door to the apartment open, he jumped up and dashed out of the room in a flash, leaving the books on the desk.

When the door fully opened, Sasuke stepped in and out of habit, called out "Tadaima" (2) to particularly no one. He was very surprised when the blonde came bouncing out from the hallway and ran into him. The raven had forgotten about the blonde for the moment and could only stare at the blonde, now on the floor, since nothing could be able to knock Uchiha Sasuke from his feet.

"Okaeri (3), Sasuke." Naruto said weakly as he made his way to his feet. "Are you hungry? I can make a snack if you want!" Naruto spoke as he glanced at the clock, realizing it was already four.

Sasuke blinked a few times and wondered if the blonde could actually cook. In the end, he agreed and went into his working room.

"Make sure you don't ruin my kitchen, and don't make such a heavy snack, we still have to eat dinner."Sasuke called out behind him, as he sat himself down on his desk, and realized that someone has messed up his things. The stool was in front of the bookshelf, and two of his books were left on his desk. He stared at the books, and realized one of the books was one of the ones written in his pen name.

Sasuke immediately picked both books up and stuffed them in his bookshelves and walked out to the kitchen.

"Naruto, have you been in my working room?" He said calmly, surprising the blonde with his sudden appearance. Naruto's head whipped around.

"Ah. Yeah sorry I went in without permission. I was just so bored." Naruto replied as neutrally as possible, remembering what was written in one of the books he read. He felt the heat crawling up his face and willed it to go down and cool, his willpower apparently strong enough that Sasuke didn't notice the slight blush.

Sasuke cleared his throat. "So, did you read any of the books there?"

"Yeah, they were good. You're a good writer you know Sasuke." Naruto complimented, then deciding to change the subject spoke up. "Since it's already 5, I'm just going to make a big early dinner, and if you want, you can eat a snack later okay? So what do you want? I can make really good ramen, or or, my fried rice is really good! Yup, friend rice it is!" Naruto cheered, making up his mind, not even bothering with Sasuke's opinion.

He rubbed his hands and set to work, immediately forgetting the raven was still in the room. He opened the fridge and took out some eggs, squid, sausage and vegetables. He then looked around the cupboards and looked for soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Luckily, there was already rice in the rice cooker so he didn't have to worry about that.

Once all the ingredients were set, he started making the dinner.

When he was done, he was very proud with what he made, and Sasuke was surprised. The aroma coming from the food was very pleasant and savory and it had been quite amusing to watch the blonde cook. He made every measurement perfectly and he seemed, just so focused.

Naruto happily placed the two bowls of fried rice on the table, motioning for Sasuke to sit, and the raven did. The dinner was eaten in comfortable silence, except the sounds of spoons and chopsticks clacking, and the random, but simple questions Naruto had for Sasuke.

* * *

><p>It has already been a week and a half since Naruto "moved in" with Sasuke, and both became quite comfortable with each others' presence. Naruto and Sasuke had a similar body shape so all of Sasuke's clothing fit Naruto well, so there was no need to go buy other things, and the blonde simply refused anything that was given to him.<p>

Sasuke was thankful for Naruto's unselfish wants, but it was something he wasn't used to. Most people just used him for his money, or were only friends with him for his money, or his looks, or his power, so he could never know if the blonde was faking or not. Sasuke decided to shrug it off, hoping that Naruto wasn't just acting for money.

At the moment, they were both sitting in the living room, watching television in silence. Well, Naruto was staring at the TV, while Sasuke was staring at the blonde. The raven had never noticed before but the blonde was quite attractive. He had a toned body, but the muscles weren't too bulky and he seemed he had no excess fat in his body. _Probably from being homeless. _

Again, Naruto's eyes were what always captured Sasuke's full attention. When he first saw them, he thought they were contacts, but he quickly thought otherwise.

A loud knock on the door broke the comfortable silence, startling both the blonde and the raven. Sasuke scowled. _I'm too relaxed around him. _

He walked up and reached for the door, but before his hands reached the door knob, the door swung open and Iruka and Kakashi walked in. Iruka looked mad while Kakashi seemed amused, as always.

"Sasuke what are you doing? Go get dressed right now, you have a party to attend too! I don't care if you don't want to go, but it's to celebrate Sasaki-sensei's (4) winning of the Nakamura Award! You didn't even give him a phone call saying congratulations, so the least you can do is show up at his party!" Iruka bellowed, his face red with anger.

Naruto was now intently watching the conversation, wondering what kind of party it would be.

"You know I don't like parties. Just make an excuse saying I can't make it. It's probably already too late to go anyway." Sasuke replied coolly.

Iruka then dragged Sasuke into his room to find a proper suit and tie for the party. Ignoring how mad Sasuke now looked, leaving Naruto and Kakashi behind.

"So what kind of party is it?" Naruto asked, pretty curious.

Kakashi just chuckled. "Just a celebration party. Naruto, would you like to go?"

Naruto's eyes brightened. Of course he wanted to go! He had never been to fancy parties so he was very excited, but the excitement quickly faded to disappointment.

"But I don't have a suit, and I don't really belong there right?" His eyes drooped downwards and he looked like a forlorn puppy. Right on time, Iruka and Sasuke stepped into the room, Sasuke wearing a full suit with a red tie.

Naruto stared. Sasuke looked, well simply said, Sasuke looked pretty good. Naruto had seen Sasuke in suit many different times, but this one looked, so different.

Kakashi noticed the blonde staring and made his way to Sasuke. "My my, don't you look nice. Iruka did a good job too, and I'm not the only one who thinks that." Kakashi tilted his head towards the staring blonde.

Sasuke smirked, remembering what the blonde said on the very first day they met, and spoke in a very arrogant way, "Am I just so hot you couldn't help but stare, Naruto?"

Again, the same comment made Kakashi guffaw as Naruto sputtered and flushed a bright red. Naruto rapidly shook his head and sputtered unintelligently because at the moment, his mouth would just not work.

Then, Kakashi stepped in and placed his hands on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Naruto wants to go to the party too. Shouldn't we let him? He needs to get out of this place once in a while."

Iruka quickly brightened at the idea, while Sasuke actually seemed interested too.

"That's a great idea, Kakashi! And Sasuke has extra suits so Naruto could just wear those!" Iruka was absolutely gleeful as he grabbed Naruto's arm and dragged him into Sasuke's room.

Kakashi and Sasuke waited patiently for a few minutes and Iruka and Naruto finally stepped out of the room.

Sasuke could not help but stare. Naruto was already pretty attractive, Sasuke had to admit, but in a suit, he just looked, well bluntly said, he looked hot.

"Oh Naruto, you certainly look nice in a suit. Well then, let's get going. We don't want to be any late than we already are." Kakashi clapped, excited for the party. Mainly because he wanted to see if anything _interesting _would happen while the blonde was there.

Kakashi and Iruka pushed Naruto and Sasuke out the door, and soon, all four were in the car, Kakashi driving to the party.

As the hotel inched closer, Naruto started getting a nervous feeling in his stomach. He was scared that no one would notice him, but at the same time, he was scared to attract any attention. He wasn't even in the room yet and he was already nervous.

Sasuke saw how nervous the blonde looked as they stepped out of the car and reassuringly placed a hand on his back.

"Stop looking so nervous. It's just a party."

Naruto jumped at the sudden compact and turned his head around.

"Well for you it might just be a party, but I've never been to things like this so how can I not be nervous?" Naruto questioned as he started adjusting his tie, thinking it had suddenly gotten tighter.

He actually ended up messing his tie up, so Sasuke stepped in.

"Hey what are you doing? You messed up your tie." He placed a hand on Naruto's tie and redid the knot. Noticing how Naruto's face became redder, and redder.

When the four reached the room, Naruto was in awe. Everything looked so luxurious and shiny and sparkly. It was unimaginable, and everyone there was dressed up in very nice clothes and he realized they must all be pretty rich too.

Suddenly, a deep, calm voice attracted his attention.

"Uchiha, it's been a while." A pale man with long brown hair walked up to them. He had very pale eyes that made him look like he had no pupils, but Naruto felt like he could still feel the man's eyes on him, although he was talking to Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed but he gave a nod of acknowledgement. He wasn't on very good terms with this man. Of course, it wasn't anything personal, except this man here always managed to piss him off in some way. It was just because their father's companies were always competing and therefore, both families expected them to compete also.

In truth, Sasuke couldn't care whether this man succeeded or not, but, there was nothing he could do about it.

"Same to you, Hyuga" Sasuke met the eyes of the Hyuga almost daring him to say something else, and in fact, he did.

He turned to Naruto and stretched out a hand.

"Nice to meet you. I am Hyuga Neji. Are you a friend of Sasuke?" He asked very calmly.

Naruto stared at the hand and slowly shook hands with the brunette and replied.

"U-Uzumaki Naruto. And yeah I guess you can say that." Naruto didn't know why, but he felt very uncomfortable with this man and wanted to get away from him as soon as possible. Sasuke, being the observant man he is, noticed Naruto's discomfort and nudged Naruto away.

"Well we really must go now. Good bye Hyuga." Sasuke spoke as he took Naruto away to join Iruka and Kakashi again. They joined in mindless chatter, unaware of the brunette now watching them.

After a few minutes Naruto spoke up.

"I'm thirsty, Sasuke." The blonde complained to a slightly annoyed Sasuke. The raven simply pointed to the snack table at the corner of the room. There were many different kinds of food laid out and they had glasses of water, juice, and wine there.

Naruto smiled and happily marched to the table, choosing a glass of water to drink, but before he could do so, a hand tapped his shoulder.

"Why don't you try some of the wine? It's delicious." A familiar voice sounded from behind him.

Naruto's head whipped around.

"Ah. Neji, you scared me. And I'm not old enough to drink wine yet." Naruto replied sheepishly. His age never stopped him from drinking before but…

Neji smiled a bit. Was he already on first name basis with the blonde? Neji shrugged and decided to chat with the blonde a little, finding him to be a very amusing, yet naïve man.

Naruto also felt more comfortable with the man and realized he wasn't that bad. He actually said something amusing that made Naruto burst into laughter, catching Sasuke's attention.

The raven looked at the two with a frown on his face. He felt Naruto was getting too comfortable around Neji, but decided to not do anything, until Neji's hands touched Naruto's face, apparently touching the tattoos and Naruto's face.

Sasuke scowled and his grip on his cup tightened, until he heard Kakashi's voice behind him.

"My my, Sasuke. Are you getting jealous?" Kakashi chuckled.

"Who would?" Sasuke asked back, but he knew he was getting envious, just a little. His eyes trailed back to the two and watched Neji touch Naruto's hair, as Naruto just stood there, letting him. Sasuke actually growled and marched towards them.

"Naruto, let's go." He grabbed Naruto's arm and started walking away.

"Eh, already?" Naruto complained, but on the inside, he was actually glad that Sasuke stepped in. Neji was getting a little too touchy.

"Yes, now let's go, you're tired right?" Sasuke was still holding on the Naruto's arm when a silky voice cut through.

"Sasuke, I don't think you should force Naruto-kun to leave. And I already saw you congratulating Sasaki-sensei but how can you leave without meeting the guest of honor?"

Sasuke stopped at his tracks.

"What guest of honor?" Sasuke asked, waiting for a reply. But instead of the reply coming from Neji, it came from a voice behind him.

"Otouto (5), long time no see."

* * *

><p>(1) Aoyami Daisuke is Sasuke's pen name for his pron books. Hehee3<p>

(2) Tadaima basically means "I'm hone" in Japanese.

(3) Okaeri basically means "Welcome home" in Japanese

(4) Sasaki-sensei is just an author that won an award. He's a very minor character and will probably only appear in this chapter.

(5) Outoto means "little brother" in Japanese.

* * *

><p>Ooh cliffhanger~ And there was a little (barely) SasuNaru in here too! Haha.. this chapter was long too. My longest yet, but then again, this is only my third chapter.<p>

I felt this chapter wasn't as good as the other ones because I was basically half asleep/half dead when I was writing the middle part of this chapter.

Please review and recommend to friends if you like this story. I NEED to know what you guys think so far of this story so I know whether to continue or not.

I want 3 more reviews? Is that asking for too much? D:

Remember to PM me on any grammar, spelling, punctuation or any other mistake you find.

Well, until the next chapter, bye~


	4. Chapter 4: Impulse

Hey guys! It's been a while sorry! Actually I was all pumped up to write this chapter on Sunday night, but then my friend called me crying to me about relationship problems and stuff so that distracted me. Then, I got all lazy and distracted on Monday and Tuesday, but a review by **Neji4evs **pumped me up again so thank you!

This chapter is short, sorry! I had writer's block, if you will. Hahaha, but this chapter has more drama!

Oh and I also feel this story is a little rushed and going to fast, but if I actually slow things down, this story will become pretty long. This is only the beginning. The main plot is after the one year time skip and stuff. But before that happens, I need to have Sasuke and Naruto fall in love with each other, but I don't want to have them just, BOOM fall in love, but like I said before, I can't take my time in it, so, sorry!

**Disclaimer: I do not own. All rights to Masashi Kishimoto.**

_Warning, SasuNaru a little at the end. SasuSaku a little I guess. Not even probably. Mild language in some parts. Short chapter._

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><p>"<em>Sasuke, I don't think you should force Naruto-kun to leave. And I already saw you congratulating Sasaki-sensei but how can you leave without meeting the guest of honor?"<em>

_Sasuke stopped at his tracks._

"_What guest of honor?" Sasuke asked, waiting for a reply. But instead of the reply coming from Neji, it came from a voice behind him._

"_Otouto , long time no see."_

All heads whipped around to meet the velvety voice that echoed throughout the hall, and immediately, whispers and gasps ripped through the room like wild fire.

"That-That's!"

"Uchiha Itachi!"

"What is he doing here? He's supposed to be at New York with his company!"

Naruto, someone who had no idea who the man was, could only ask one what seemed like the dumbest question to almost everyone in the room.

"Who's he?"

Naruto wondered aloud, automatically receiving looks of shock, and even some glares too. _Great, what did I do?_

"You don't know Uchiha-sama?" People gasped, while others stared at him like he contacted some strange disease.

Naruto stuttered, "Well, I mean, I've never heard of him so, I just, well I think he's someone famous or something right?"

The blond seemed to get more and more nervous as every second ticked by without the stares stopping. Until a certain raven stepped in.

"Everyone, don't expect every single person out there to know who I am. He must just live in an uncivilized area, perhaps a cave, or the street I presume?" Itachi spoke in a very arrogant way.

Laughter roared across the room, almost everyone choosing to laugh at the blonde, while Itachi just smiled with a smug look on his face. Sasuke scowled and Kakashi glared while Iruka looked at the blonde in worry.

Naruto was looking at the floor, first very hurt at how everyone was laughing at him. Again, why was he always the center of everyone's jokes? The hurt boiled into anger as he clenched his fists at his sides. He was shaking now, drawing Sasuke's attention.

The raven actually felt bad and he felt a spark of anger at his brother. He was about to put everyone in this room that was laughing at their place, but before he could, a voice interrupted.

"Shut up." His voice was quiet, but had enough sharpness to cut better than a knife. Of course, his voice could only be heard by Sasuke through the laughter, but as the laughter grew on, and on, Naruto just couldn't take it anymore.

"Shut up, shut up! So what if I used to live in the streets huh? So what if I don't have a lot of money? If being rich turns me into conceited bastards like you, I hope I never get rich! You guys probably don't have a clue about what I went through! People like you wouldn't even survive for a day. Try it, I dare you. Then, then, I'll be the one laughing at you." Naruto literally screamed at the top of his lungs, body trembling.

The room quieted down immediately, people gaping at the blonde's sudden outburst. Everyone could do nothing but stare at the blonde, finally quieting down, but still shaking with anger.

Then, suddenly, _clap, clap, clap. _Three claps sounded from the man who started this whole incident.

"Wow, I must say I am surprised. If you're from the streets, how did you get such a nice suit, and why are you even at this party?" The older Uchiha asked, a smug smile still in place.

_That's it_. Naruto growled and tried to run and punch the man, but a hand stopped him. He looked back and was surprised to see it was Sasuke's hand holding him back.

"Naruto, that's enough. Let's go home, okay?" Sasuke spoke softly. His eyes actually looked sympathetic, and so, Naruto relaxed and let himself be pulled away from the crowd. When they both passed Itachi to get out of the room, both Naruto and Sasuke gave him a full on glare, both eyes filled with anger, although Naruto was, of course, much more passionate. Iruka and Kakashi quickly followed suit, Iruka chasing after the blonde and the raven while Kakashi stayed behind.

"Itachi you should really watch what you say sometimes, especially to the blonde one. Sasuke's very fond and protective of him." Kakashi lied smoothly. He knew that a comment like that would spark the brotherly side of the raven. He knew that the brothers were very close in their childhood years and he knew how Sasuke only looked up to Itachi when they were young. Kakashi guessed that Itachi wouldn't be used to Sasuke depending or getting close to other people than himself. And he was right.

Itachi scowled. "Who is the blonde anyway?"

"He's Sasuke's lover." Kakashi once again, lied through his teeth. A little lie couldn't hurt and he was doing this to keep Itachi away from Naruto, unaware that he was only going to make things worse.

"Well, have a good night." Kakashi smiled at the surprised expression on Itachi's usually arrogant face. He swore that man was cockier than Sasuke. He waved behind him as he walked to meet the group. They were all waiting outside of the car. Since Kakashi had the keys, they could not get in. Kakashi laughed and rubbed his head.

"Sorry to keep you waiting! I had a little chat with our guest of honor." He spoke sheepishly, ignoring the curious glance from Iruka, as he unlocked the car and stepped in. All four quietly got in and Kakashi turned the key, the car rumbling to life.

~~~x~~~

Somewhere in the hotel, Itachi was still standing, not believing his ears. His brother had a lover? No Itachi could not have that. He knew how hard it was for Sasuke to find someone he was compatible with, and he knew that his brother was, in fact, gay, but there were certain things in life where he felt it was his responsibility, no, his duty, to keep safe. For example, his brother's reputation.

He knew it was certain that once news got out that his brother was going out with another man, Sasuke's reputation would go down the drain. And he simply could not have that. Not at all. So he immediately grabbed his phone and called the one person he knew was the easiest to fool.

"Hello, may I speak to Haruno Sakura-san please."

~~~x~~~

The car ride was completely silent until Naruto and Sasuke spoke at the same time.

"So what were you-"

"What did you talk with-"

Both interrupted each other and both stared at each other, willing the other to go first. Sasuke nodded at Naruto, allowing him to speak. Naruto cleared his throat.

"So what were you and that guy talking about?" he was curious. He had recently developed a strong dislike towards that man and he didn't even know his name.

"Nothing, nothing." Kakashi simply waved the question off, trying to hide his nervousness because he knew if the raven found out about the little lie he fed to Itachi, he would have his head. But at the same time, he was just too lazy to make an excuse at the moment.

Naruto nodded but was skeptical, while Sasuke obviously noticed Kakashi's bluff, but decided to ask him later, when the blonde was not around. When they reached Sasuke's apartment, the group said their goodbyes as Sasuke and Naruto got out of the car and the couple drove off.

The blonde and the raven looked at the car's light, now growing smaller and smaller with every second passing, When both could no longer see the light, Naruto and Sasuke went on the elevator to Sasuke's apartment. When they reached the door, Sasuke reached in his suit jacket pockets for the key, realizing he could not find it.

Naruto stared and started to get worried when Sasuke started looking through all his pockets, and when Sasuke took out his hands empty handed, Naruto gaped in disbelief.

"Don't tell me Sasuke." Naruto started off, eyes widening as Sasuke only nodded. "You lost the key?" Naruto whined. _This was officially the worst day ever!_ Naruto thought. _First a random man made fun of me and now we're locked out! _Naruto could not think how this day could get any worse.

He was dead tired since it was well past midnight and all he wanted to do is sleep and forget about everything that happened today, but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

Now Sasuke thought the blonde's reaction was absolutely hilarious. It took all his willpower to not burst into laughter right there and then. You would think that since he was also locked out of his house, he would be a little more negative right?

Naruto was now close to throwing a tantrum, and that really pulled on Sasuke's strength. Then, when Naruto kicked the door in frustration, that was it. The cup holding in all his laughter broke and Sasuke almost exploded in laughter. Almost. If he did, that would be very unlike the raven, so he suppressed his laughter by turning his head away from the blonde and letting out a breathy chuckle, one that did not escape the blonde's ears.

"S-Sasuke why are you laughing? We're locked out and you're laughing!" Naruto threw up his hands in disbelief. "What's wrong with you?"

Now, Sasuke was actually laughing, shakily putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder, trying to get his words out around his laughter.

"R-relax Naruto. It was, it was, just a prank." As Sasuke finally pulled the key from his trouser pockets. He was hoping to lighten the blonde's mood with this prank but it seemed only his mood was lightened.

Naruto froze, eyes wide, mouth hanging open.

"WHAAAT?"

* * *

><p>The next morning was pretty normal. Sasuke woke up once again to find Naruto also on his bed, but seemed to mind less and less each time, and left for work after the blonde woke up.<p>

Today, he felt like he wanted to eat something heavier, and went for egg and bacon with orange juice. He quickly made his breakfast, stomach growling. He ate very fast and gulped down his juice. When he was done eating, he washed his dishes, sat on the couch, and watched some TV, doing his daily routine over again.

Boy was he bored! He rolled on the sofa watching the TV in different angles, switching the channels until he found something new and interesting. His life was just a little too repetitive right now for his liking. He would get up, or be woken up by Sasuke, make his own breakfast after Sasuke leaves for work, watch TV for hours and hours until Sasuke got back, make dinner for them, and then go to sleep.

He frowned and just decided to keep flipping through the channels. Sports, sports, cartoons, news, news, news.

"_Reporting live in front of the Uchiha Enterpri-"_

Naruto froze and switched back the channel and realized it was the dark haired man from before on TV, with the same arrogant, smug, smile on his face. Naruto growled and grabbed the remote tighter wondering what was so interesting about this.

"_Well I am very glad to announce that my little brother, Uchiha Sasuke, will be getting married to Haruno Sakura for personal purposes. The wedding will be in three weeks from now and will be held in Angel's Chapel nearby. Well Sasuke, I congratulate you." _

And the screen changed from Itachi to a pink-haired female, who seemed very happy to be getting married to Sasuke, while a female reporter who tried to question what had made Sasuke want to marry the girl, trying, unsuccessfully, to pry the answers out of Itachi. Naruto gaped at the TV, the remote now on the ground.

_Sasuke's getting married? _Naruto frowned. He didn't know why, but that idea just didn't sit well with him. Naruto suddenly started getting very worried and anxious. _What is Sasuke abandons me or what if the girl he's getting married to doesn't like me and kicks me out? Will I be alone again?_

Now Naruto was very scared. He didn't want Sasuke to get married because he was worried that he would get kicked out. He nodded to himself that that was the only reason why he didn't want Sasuke to get married, trying to ignore the uncomfortable tightness in his throat every time he thought about the marriage. Naruto shook his head. _No no no no no! Stop thinking Naruto. You do not like Sasuke! You just like his face and body. Yeah, you were always a sucker for a pretty face, it's nothing serious, nothing serio-_

A large sound made from the apartment door being slammed open broke Naruto away from his thoughts. Sasuke marched in the room looking furious.

"Sasuke!" Naruto spoke, surprised. He usually didn't get back from his work so early, I mean, it's only been a few hours since Sasuke left. It wasn't even one o' clock yet.

He then stared at Naruto while the blonde stared back. Then suddenly, Sasuke looked at the TV and realized they were still talking about the wedding. He growled, reached for the remote and turned the TV off.

He marched back into his room leaving Naruto speechless. After a few minutes, he marched out again, changed in dark jeans and a semi-casual shirt, like before, and grabbed Naruto's arm. The sudden contact making Naruto jump.

"Come with me." He grunted as he dragged the blonde out of the apartment.

"Wha-wait wait, Sasuke where are we going?" Naruto asked. He was actually kind of excited because this was something a little different, but he still did not like being dragged to places and certainly did not appreciate it when Sasuke basically threw him into the car.

"Ow! Sasuke you better explain to me what all this rush is for?" Naruto glared while Sasuke walked to the other side of the car, got in, and slammed the door shut. He started the car and started driving, very fast actually. Too fast for Naruto's liking.

"You should know right? You saw it on TV, the marriage." Sasuke seethed out through his teeth, his grip on the steering wheel as he started pressing harder on the gas pedal.

Now Naruto was a little scared.

"H-hey now Sasuke. Slow down a little, we're going to crash." Naruto grabbed the arm rest and continued on. "And where are we going?"

Sasuke spoke quietly. "My brother's company. You know, the man from the party and the one that was on TV."

"EHhhh? That asshole is your broth- AHH!" Naruto screamed as the car took a sharp turn right and jerked to a stop at a parking space.

"Y-you! You have to take driving classes again!" Naruto screamed, his heartbeat finally starting to calm down as Sasuke walked out of the car. He actually opened Naruto's door and waited impatiently for the blonde to step out. Sasuke was not in the best of his moods right now.

"Coming dobe?" He spoke, irritated.

Naruto just nodded and hurriedly stepped out of the car, and stared at the very large commotion currently going on at the doors of the company. There were reporters with cameras everywhere and you could hear all the questions ringing in the air.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto and walked towards the commotion. Naruto groaned. _Oh no. I don't want to get dragged in something like this!_

Sasuke was angry, no he was furious! How dare his brother make a public announcement like that without even talking to Sasuke about it!

He pushed his way through the group of reporters, camera flashes completely blinding the blonde trailing behind.

"It's Uchiha Sasuke! Quick get his picture!"

"Who's his friend?"

"Uchiha-san, what do you have to say about the wedding?"

"Has there been a secret affair going on between you and Haruno-san?" That question earning a giggle from the pink haired girl. Sasuke growled.

"Haruno and I are not getting married." Sasuke spoke loudly and clearly, his voice like ice. Reporters were now screaming more questions and demanding more answers, as Sasuke simply ignored them. He glared at his brother, his eyes furious.

"Itachi, I don't know what you were thinking when you said I would marry her, but I will NOT have you decide my life for me."

"You seem to have misunderstood something, Sasuke-kun. We're in love, remember?" Sakura butted her way into the conversation. Personally, she didn't really care about marrying Sasuke. She just wanted money, power, fame, and wanted to make her company bigger and stronger, and she knew marrying Sasuke would help her reach her goals. Plus, Itachi would pay her and her company if she got Sasuke to marry her. She, herself, had no idea why he would want his brother to marry her, but even without the reason, she would try her best to get him to marry her.

Sasuke glared, "I wasn't talking to you, woman." Sasuke seethed. And that's when Naruto stepped in.

"Hey Sasuke, that's not very nice. If you know her name, then you should call her by it." Naruto spoke nervously, noticing how all eyes were now on him.

"A-and why did you drag me here in the first place? I have nothing to do with this." He continued on, noticing how Sasuke looked even more furious than before, suddenly wondering again, what he did wrong.

"But the problem is, boy," Itachi spoke up, "You do have something to do with this, actually, you have everything to do with this. And not in a good way either. Your existence in Sasuke's life is what started this whole thing. You are a hindrance to me." Itachi spoke defiantly, unaffected by the hurt and shocked glance from the blonde, and the look of pure murder in the raven's eyes.

"You. Will. Not. Talk. Like. that. To. Naruto. Again." Sasuke seethed out his words through clenched teeth. He was ready to do what Naruto would have done the night before, and that was to beat the living daylight out of his brother. Of course, he could not do that with all these reporters running amuck.

Itachi smirked, expecting this response from the brother he knew oh, so, well.

"And why are you so protective of this blonde?" Itachi asked, eyes glinting. Something in his mind told him what to get ready for what he was going to hear. But ready was one thing Itachi wasn't when Sasuke grabbed the blonde in one swift motion, and placed his lips on Naruto's and kissed him, in front of everyone, the cameras, his brother, Sakura, and anyone else that just happened to be there.

Itachi smirked. _So the tyrant fell in love, hm?_

And all hell broke loose.

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><p>Done! How did you guys like it? Cliffhanger again. More interesting one though.<p>

Ahhh I hope you guys liked this chapter. I wasn't too happy with it because it took FOREVER to finish. It was a very stubborn chapter indeed. But I finished, yay!

I want 4 more reviews please(: And don't forget to PM me on any mistakes you find.

Well, until the next chapter, bye~


	5. Chapter 5: Ashes

Hey guys! Sorry. This chapter came out later than I expected. Actually, I finished this chapter yesterday night, but I didn't have time to upload it. And since I finished it yesterday, I thought I already uploaded it, but then I realized I didn't so yeah. Sorry it's my fault! .

Big big big BIIIIIGG THANKS to **PanPan the Almighty Panda **for your review! I had NO IDEA what to do for this next chapter because, like you said, I had a lot of things planned for this story in the future, but I didn't know how to do the transitions and stuff and as soon as soon as gave me advice to open more about Naruto and Sasuke's life...BOOM Ideas just flew into my head. THANKYOUU[:

This chapter is long. My longest one yet! Hopefully to make up for the short chapter before. This is an informative chapter I guess.

Alright. ENJOY!

**Disclaimer: I do not own this. All rights to Masashi Kishimoto.**

_Warning: A little Sasuke angst. SasuNaru at the end kind of._

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><p>"<em>And why are you so protective of this blonde?" Itachi asked, eyes glinting. Something in his mind told him what to get ready for what he was going to hear. But ready was one thing Itachi wasn't when Sasuke grabbed the blonde in one swift motion, and placed his lips on Naruto's and kissed him, in front of everyone, the cameras, his brother, Sakura, and anyone else that just happened to be there.<em>

_Itachi smirked. So the tyrant fell in love, hm?_

_And all hell broke loose._

Reporters screamed at the contact and hungrily took pictures or videos, knowing the kiss needed to be shown to the world. The crowd before was nothing compared to how they were acting right now. They were like ravenous wolves and the kiss was their first meal in days.

Itachi stood there with a smirk still in place, but inside, he was shocked, and his mind was immediately thinking of ways to keep the two from seeing each other. He knew it was too late to stop word from spreading since the reporters from before that were reporting live were filming the whole kiss, so the this moment was literally being broadcasted on television all over Japan.

Truth be told, everyone was shocked, Sakura, Itachi, the reporters, and of course, Naruto.

When he felt Sasuke's lips press onto his, his heart became like a hummingbird's wings and he just couldn't think of anything. His eyes were wide open with shock, while Sasuke's was closed. The kiss was of course, gentle, but the reporters could see the longing in it. Soon, wide eyes fell closed as Naruto relaxed into the kiss and kissed the raven back. Not caring about the reporters or anyone else at the moment.

Sasuke was first to break the kiss, and stared straight at the cameras, leaving a flustered Naruto to catch his breath.

"So now you know." He replied. Although he was facing the cameras, it was clear that the reply was to Itachi. He then grabbed Naruto and pushed he way out of the car, a flock of reporters trailing behind.

"Uchiha-san, are you and this man here in an affair?"

"Why did you kiss the blonde?"

"Uchiha-san! Please answer our questions!"

Of course, no matter how much the reporters tried to get answers from the raven, they were simply ignored. Naruto was still shocked from the kiss and could not do anything but try to walk fast enough so he would not trip.

He made a surprise noise when he was thrown in the car seat like before, and could only stare as Sasuke slammed the door and stepped in through the other side. Sasuke gave all the reporters surrounding the car a warning look before backing out, resulting in many reporters running out of the way to avoid getting run over. Yells of desperation filled the air as the reporters unsuccessfully tried to call for the raven to come back. When they finally realized it wasn't going to happen, they rushed back to the older Uchiha.

"Uchiha-san, what do you have to say about your brother's affair?"

Questions blared through the air, causing Itachi to scowl. His brother was always one to dump all the bothersome work on him.

~~~x~~~

In the car, Naruto glanced at Sasuke, speeding on the street and constantly swerving to refrain from hitting any cars. He seemed calm, as if none of the past event even happened, while on the other hand, Naruto was still a flustered mess. Thoughts raced through his heads. _Why did he kiss me? Does this mean he liked me or something? Well I guess that's good because I like him too- WAIT. No no no Naruto what are you thinking? _

"S-so, Sasuke about the ki-" He hesitantly asked, twiddling with his hands.

"Don't worry about it. It didn't mean anything." Sasuke interrupted coolly, although the words felt strange in his mouth. Even if he said the kiss didn't mean anything, a strange feeling stirred in his gut. Was it guilt? Sasuke quickly shook it off and continued to stare at the road, not even bothering to see how the blonde reacted.

Naruto didn't know what to say about the reply. He knew he should have felt relieved, but he actually felt disappointed. He didn't know why it was disappointment he felt instead of relief, but he too, decided to shake the feeling off. If a simple kiss caused all this ruckus, how would the world react if he and Sasuke started going out? _It would cause him too much trouble. _ Naruto thought, _And I hate causing anyone unnecessary trouble._ And with that resolve, he was determined to make sure he didn't fall for Uchiha Sasuke.

The next few days were hectic for the two. Crowds of reporters, paparazzi, and random girls surrounded Sasuke's apartment building, preventing anyone living there to leave, enter, or have any bit of peace and quiet, much to Sasuke's annoyance. By then, the two had made a silent agreement to forget about the kiss, so things have almost returned to normal, almost, if not for the raging crowd outside.

The two were currently trying to eat their breakfast in peace, but the screaming crowd from outside kept them from doing so. Sasuke was used to these things, knowing they'll last only a few more days, but that didn't mean he liked it. And Naruto was far from used to things like screaming crowds and camera lights. With every sleepless night, his nerves were cracking. Now Naruto wasn't going crazy or anything, just getting really, really irritated.

He slammed his fist on the table and stood up, causing the cups and dishes to rattle. Sasuke merely stopped half way from putting the fork to his mouth and raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

"Damn it, how long are they going to stay outside?" Naruto asked, irritation clear in his voice.

Sasuke chuckled at the blonde's annoyance and waved him to sit back down.

"Don't worry, they'll be gone in a few days."

And truth be told, he was right. By the fourth day, most of the reporters were gone, only the few desperate ones staying behind. Actually, Sasuke was quite surprised by how fast they all dispersed. Although he has told Naruto they would be gone in a few days, he actually expected them to stay for at least a good week before they started giving up, and the kiss was something very unexpected and scandalous so he was sure the reporters would stay longer, but apparently, the media just didn't seem to care anymore, which was actually a good thing for both Sasuke and Naruto.

Sasuke could now get out of the house and go to work, while Naruto could live in peace and quiet once again. Now they were back to their original routine, much to the blonde's relief. When Sasuke left for work, he happily plopped himself down on the couch and turned on the TV, like he used to.

He sighed contently. "I could use some normal right now." As he switched the channels to see if anything interesting was playing. Unfortunately, there was nothing that caught the blonde's interest so Naruto just turned the television off. He rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling, mind blank.

He couldn't help but again, think about his past; his mom, his time on the streets, thoughts like those just wandered in his head when he had nothing to do. This was why Naruto always had tried to keep himself busy. He hit himself on the head, several times.

"AHH Naruto, stop thinking, stop thinking." He mumbled as he stood to go into Sasuke's working room. He had already read more than half of the books Sasuke had written; note that Naruto was a very fast and avid reader. His eyes scanned the bookshelf, trying to remember what books he had already read. He wanted a thick book that would keep him occupied for a while. His eyes stopped at a thick black book and he reached for it, finding it heavier than he thought.

He slammed it down on table to quickly free himself of the weight, and sat down. He noticed that this book was not by Sasuke, but another person with the name of Uchiha Fugaku. _His dad? _Naruto thought, as he opened the book, frowned a bit, and started reading.

* * *

><p>Uchiha Itachi was a very busy man, and he became even busier when he realized he had to be the one that had to take action to break Sasuke and Naruto apart. He didn't know what their relationship was, but that kiss was enough to fully convince him that the two were lovers. <em>If they weren't why would they have kissed? <em>He thought to himself as he looked through the papers his secretary, Karin, have brought him. He had personally asked her to find any information on Uzumaki Naruto she could find, since she was very good with finding and tracking down a person's information, or even the person himself. He had also found out the blonde's surname from Karin.

He shifted through the papers, frowning when he couldn't find anything interesting about the blonde. He was like a normal high school kid that should have gone to college. He stopped when he reached the boy's college records. He had received a scholarship for Aoyama Gakuin University, but he did not show up at the opening ceremony, nor did he even show up at the school when the semester began.

His eyes gleamed when he realized this was something he could use. He called his secretary over.

"Karin, find the reason why Naruto here did not go to college." He asked while he shifted his attention on the other papers.

"Yes-sir." Karin replied in a bored voice. It wasn't that she hated this job, but usually, she never finds anything interesting when looking through someone's background, so she knew she couldn't expect much from this one, but boy was she wrong.

She rushed back with papers in her hands.

"Itachi-sama, I found some interesting background on the kid!" She said as she slammed the papers on the, rather surprised, Uchiha's desk. "I found some minimal criminal records and it seemed that he's been living on the streets for a while now!" She spoke rapidly, now breathless.

Itachi's attention has been caught right away as he hurriedly read through the papers.

_Uzumaki Naruto, age 19._

_Caught shoplifting at several different stored, but never had any presses charged against him._

_Caught getting in fights with different street gangs. _

_Admitted to hospital on March 6. Released the next day with minor injuries._

_Withdrew $1,000 from the bank account of Uzumaki Kushina under the name Namikaze Minato_

He turned the page and realized the next page was a list of the stores the boy has shoplifted from. He realized they were all small, self run supermarkets that were basically on every street corner. The page also gave him a list of the objects he stole, noticing they were all foods, or clothing, and came to the conclusion that Naruto has stolen from the stores to survive, realizing he was living on the streets around the same time he had been homeless.

Itachi was curious. If the boy received a scholarship from one of Japan's top 50 universities, why was he homeless? Why couldn't he find a job to support himself, if he didn't have any parents or guardians? He stood up, gathering the papers in a brief case and made his way out of the office.

"Ah- Itachi-sama, where are you going?" Karin asked.

"Out, I'll be back soon." He replied shortly, as he left the building.

_I'll know everything I want to know soon._

* * *

><p>Back in Sasuke's apartment, Naruto was getting frustrated because he could not understand this book! The vocabulary used was not familiar with Naruto, so it was very hard to understand the book. Plus, this book had no plot to it. It was basically a book about the history of the man's company and how he made it so successful.<p>

Business was something Naruto had to care about, and shut the book before he reached half way. He looked at the clock and realized one hour has passed. He shrugged and made his way to the kitchen, feeling for a snack.

He opened the fridge in search of ice cream, and his eyes lit up when he found the prize. He grabbed the tub, and a large spoon from a nearby cupboard and sat himself on the kitchen island. He opened the lid, or at least he tried to. The ice cream was frozen solid, much to Naruto's disappointment. He tried everything to at least get the lid off. Slam the tub on the table, hit the lid and the sides with a spoon, bite the lid off, but sadly, nothing worked. Naruto was about to give up and just stick the tub in the microwave for a few seconds, but a knock on the door stopped him.

He froze, startled by the sudden noise and slowly placed the tub back onto the table. He made his way to the door, thinking it was Sasuke, since he has been coming home from work earlier nowadays and opened the door.

"Sasu-!" He stopped himself from finishing the name, surprised to see that a different Uchiha was standing at the door. He blinked a few times, recognizing the face, before immediately scowling, and right away, tried to slam the door in his face, but he was stopped by a hand, swiftly preventing him from moving the door.

"I just want to talk. Let me in." Itachi spoke evenly, but he was already pushing the door open, despite the blonde's best struggles to shut the door, secretly amusing Itachi by how weak he was.

He made his way in and sat down on the couch, dumping his suit jacket to a place on the floor, and loosened his tie. Naruto stood there, staring, no, glaring at the raven, until Itachi made a motion for him to sit. Naruto slowly made his way to the armchair farthest away from where the Uchiha was sitting and sat down, and crossed him arms.

"So, what do you want?" He asked.

Itachi cleared his throat. "I just want to get you away from Sasuke. It's obvious you are going to wreck my brother's reputation, and soon enough, you'll become a burden to him. So I picked out an apartment for you to live in. Of course, I'll cover all the bills, considering your situation right now." He spoke slowly, but had a warning tone in his voice. He knew what to do if the blonde wouldn't cooperate, and just as he expected, Naruto immediately disagreed.

"What? No! I want to stay here! You can't make my decisions for me! And how would I wreck Sasuke's reputation? I'm just living in his house." He asked. He didn't know why, but the idea of him living in a different apartment from this one scared him. He didn't want to have to live alone again, but he knew that wasn't the real reason. He wanted to stay here, with Sasuke.

Itachi's lips tilted down ever so slightly.

"We both know we can't have that. And you have already wrecked Sasuke's reputation by that kiss a few days ago. Do you know how much trouble it was for me to erase all pictures and footage from the media, and to get the reporters to stop chasing after you two? And besides the fact that you are a man, you have a slightly infamous background." He spoke, voice calm, but a hint of warning in them.

Naruto froze. "W-what do you mean?"

"What I mean is that you have shoplifted from several different stores during your time on the streets, am I right?" But he didn't give the blonde to reply. "And luckily for you, none of the store owners pressed charges against you, so the police don't know about you stealing yet. I don't know about you, but in Japan, shoplifting in a very serious crime. (1) And what's more, I have records of you getting into street fights and I have a bank record of you withdrawing one thousand dollars in cash from, I believe, your mother's bank account using your deceased father's name. I'm sure if this information gets out, the police would be chasing after you, and I'm pretty sure Sasuke wouldn't be too happy if he found out about this."

Naruto was speechless. He had no idea where this man got this information or how he got it, but he couldn't ignore the fact that every single thing he said was true. He didn't really care about the police, he knew someone would bail him out eventually, but he didn't want Sasuke to find out about this. He knew for sure that if Sasuke did somehow find out, he would abandon him for sure.

He quickly shook his head. "No! Don't tell him! I'll just move, okay?" He pleaded with desperation in his voice.

Itachi smiled. "I'm glad you understand the situation here. I don't have anything personal against you, and even if Sasuke would rather have you stay here living with him, this is for the best." He reached over a manila folder and took out some papers, showing them to Naruto.

"Now here are some of the apartments I have chosen for you. All you have to do is-" He was interrupted by Naruto.

"I never said I understood the situation, but if this really is the best for Sasuke, then I'll move out of here. There's no need to discuss it with me. Just choose any suitable house for me." He spoke quietly, his voice cracking.

Now, even Uchiha Itachi felt some guilt in separating this boy from Sasuke. He seemed so innocent and pure, only caring about what other people need or want. Itachi cleared his throat.

"I can see why Sasuke picked you up from the streets."

The reply made Naruto's head shot up. He remembered Kakashi saying the same thing the first day they met. _"__Oooh, I could see why Sasuke picked you up."_

"K-Kakashi said almost the same thing to me the first day we met." Naruto said aloud. He hadn't meant to say it out loud, but he sure didn't regret it.

Itachi mused. "So he noticed too? I guess he really is more observant than he seems."

Now that caught Naruto's attention.

"What do you mean, he noticed too?" Naruto asked, his mood shifting from sad to curious. His eyes were wide like a puppy and they literally sparkled with curiosity.

Itachi shook his head and chuckled to himself. "Even their personalities are the same." He sighed and folded his hands. "Well since you're not going to stay with him any longer, I guess I'll tell you."

But before he started, he stood up and made his way to Sasuke's working room.

"H-hey! Where are you going?" He called, being completely ignored. He huffed, crossed his arms, and impatiently waited for the Uchiha to come back. After a few minutes, he emerged from the room and sat down, holding a deep blue book in his hands, one that was very familiar to Naruto.

Itachi waved the book in the air. "Have you read this book? It was one of Sasuke's first hits as a writer."

Naruto nodded, noticing the book right away. "Yeah it was the first book I read that was written by Sasuke. So? What does that book have to do with how you can see why Sasuke picked me up from the streets?"

Itachi simply tossed the book to Naruto's lap. "Do you remember what happened in the story?" He paused, waiting for Naruto's reply.

"Of course." But before he could continue, Itachi spoke again.

"So you know that this book is a very sad book yes? It teaches people about life."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. The main character's best friend dies in a car accident and in the end, the main character kills himself right?" Naruto paused for a while. "I still don't see how this relates to me.

Itachi shook his head. "The main character in the book was written to portray Sasuke, and the best friend in the book was to portray Sasuke's best friend, Akemi. That book was a true story you know. A pipe to let out all of Sasuke's pent of feelings for the tragedy that happened to his friend, if you will. Of course, Sasuke did not try to commit suicide, but he might have wanted to. Who knows? Anyways, you bear a very strong resemblance to Akemi; the same bright blue eyes, the blonde hair, the tan skin. You could be twins even. Except Akemi of course, didn't have those lines you have on your cheeks. The strong resemblance towards each other could have been a factor in why Sasuke decided to bring you home instead of just leaving you on the streets." He chuckled. "And I bet Sasuke himself doesn't even realize it yet."

When he was done talking, he looked expectantly at Naruto, waiting for him to say something. Instead, he was met by a shocked expression. The minutes ticked on until Naruto finally spoke up.

"S-so Sasuke's best friend died in a car accident? And since I look like him or remind Sasuke of him, he brought me to his house?" Naruto shakily spoke.

Itachi merely nodded. "Yes. Like I said before, it must have been unintentional."

Their conversation was cut off by the large grandfather clock ringing in the hallway, jerking Itachi back into what they were discussing before. He cleared his throat and grabbed the papers again.

"So about your apartment. If you truly don't care about which apartment you live in, I'll have to choose the one farthest from here." He paused for a while. "Which would be this one." Itachi pointed at one of the papers.

"Please be ready to move out in one month. I'll give you that time to-" Itachi was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.

"_Tadaima_, Naruto. Why'd you leave the door unlo-"

Sasuke trailed off when he saw Naruto and his brother sitting on the couch, apparently discussing something. He glanced at the blonde and his brother, noticing how worried and sad Naruto looked and how smug his brother looked, coming to the conclusion that Itachi was up to something again.

He scowled and met his brother's eyes.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. He was glaring but his voice sounded calm, although there was an icy tone to it.

Itachi, once again, looked at Naruto expectantly, waiting for him to explain. But the blonde didn't want to talk right now, for he feared his voice wouldn't be strong enough to convince Sasuke nothing was wrong.

Sasuke walked over to the table and picked up the papers, scanning them very quickly, noticing they were designs for an apartment. His heart sped up for an unknown reason. _Was Naruto going to move? _Sasuke frowned and place the papers back on the table and spoke up, knowing his brother well.

"Naruto, are you moving on your own behalf or is Itachi forcing you?" He asked calmly.

Naruto's head jerked up, but he immediately lowered his eyes, refusing to meet the raven's.

"Ahh…well.." He trailed off, not knowing what to say. Although he didn't give an exact reply, it was enough for Sasuke.

He scowled and slammed his fist on the table.

"I would like it if you stopped trying to run my life for me. I don't appreciate you doing whatever you'd like just because _you _think it would be the best for me. I don't need you protecting me like when we were little." He spoke in a calm and quiet voice, but that's what made it all the more frightening. "If I needed Naruto to leave this place, then I would ask him myself. And if I never wanted him to be here in the first place, I wouldn't have rescued him from the streets. I don't want Naruto to leave. In fact, I _want _him to stay here, so please, don't try to do anything like this again."

The silence stretched on as the seconds past by slowly.

Itachi smirked. "Very well Sasuke. But don't expect me to come help you out of a sticky situation again. Remember, this was your choice." He spoke as he gathered all the papers and made his way out of the apartment.

As he passed Naruto, he spoke up. "And you. You can forget about what we talked about today. It seems it is not necessary. But do remember to keep what we talked about a secret." With that said, Itachi walked out of the apartment after gathering his brief case and his coat.

Now it was just Naruto and Sasuke in the room. Naruto was twiddling with his thumbs again while Sasuke stood there, arms crossed.

"I would like to know what you and Itachi were talking about." He stated.

Naruto laughed nervously and raised his eyes to meet Sasuke's.

"Well he just asked me to move to a different apartment because I'll lower your reputation or something like that." He trailed off, not wanting to say any more.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and continued to stare at the blonde.

"Is that all?"

Naruto nodded and scratched the back on his head. Well he was lying since Itachi told Naruto about Sasuke's past, but he felt no reason to bring it up. Then, suddenly, Sasuke walked up and ruffled Naruto's hair.

Naruto looked up, surprised. Sasuke had a warm smile on his face and he kept his hand on Naruto's head. Naruto felt his heart speed up, and he stared at Sasuke with confusion and slight curiosity, wondering what had made Sasuke ruffle his hair.

When Sasuke realized what he was doing, he quickly withdrew his hand and put it in his pockets. He cleared his throat and apologized, looking at Naruto sheepishly. Sasuke was definitely acting weird, but Naruto didn't mind. He liked this Sasuke too.

* * *

><p>It was now around ten o' clock, and Sasuke found himself to be very tired, which was strange since it should have been still early to him. He was currently working on a new story right now, but he just couldn't think of any ideas for the next chapter. He sighed in frustration and gave up, telling himself he would finish in the morning. He closed his laptop, took off his glasses and made his way in his bedroom, not very surprised to find that Naruto was already asleep, on his bed.<p>

He smiled to himself and made his way to the bed. He stroked Naruto's hair for a while and stopped when the blonde mumbled something in his sleep.

"Sasuke…" Naruto mumbled, a small smile on his lips.

Sasuke's smile turned into a smirk. _So the dobe dreams about me_?

He then watched the blonde sleep for a few minutes, becoming drowsy with every minute ticking by. He decided to get some sleep himself and gently crawled on the bed to not wake the blonde. He gently pushed Naruto a little to the side and slipped in.

He closed his eyes and within minutes, he was in a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>"<em>Sasuke!" A blonde boy called out.<em>

_A younger Sasuke (2) glanced up from his book and smiled when he saw his friend running his way. _

"_Hey hey, you wanna go to the park?" the blonde boy asked eagerly, waiting for an answer._

_Sasuke nodded, "Okay, but let me finish this book first. I'm almost done." His friend complained a bit but decided to just sit himself next to the raven. He glanced at the book his friend was reading, realized it was a book he already read, and decided to just watch the clouds until his friend was done._

_Sasuke, sooner or later, finished the last sentence of the book with a smile and slammed it shut, startling his friend. He smiled and stood up, smoothing out his shirt. _

"_Let's go."_

_His friend happily jumped up and put his arms playfully around Sasuke's shoulders, causing them to both to trip and fall on the soft grass. The blonde grinned and pushed Sasuke down when he tried to stand up and they both rolled in the grass, laughing until a couple of boys from their school walked passed them._

"_Get a room you two!" One of them called out jokingly, causing both friends to immediately break apart from each other and stand up. The blonde smiled sheepishly while Sasuke couldn't help but faintly blush. Note that Sasuke was much less guarded and cold before the incident. _

_He grabbed Sasuke and ran towards the park, causing Sasuke to trip over his feet again. This time, is friend caught him and laughed._

"_You're so clumsy, Sasuke." He laughed out. Then, suddenly he broke out in a grin._

"_I'll race you to the park." He winked and set off, running like the wind. All Sasuke could do was watch him run with a smile on his face, but the smile soon turn into a look of horror as his friend ran towards a street. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion; his friend laughing and waving for him to come, and the car speeding towards his friend._

"_Stop." Sasuke whispered, but the car kept inching its way towards his friend._

"_Stop." He couldn't move. His voice would just not work, wouldn't get louder. And the car was still making its way to his friend, and his friend was still laughing, as oblivious as ever, acting like nothing was wrong._

"_AKEMI STOP!" Sasuke screamed as his vocal chords finally started working, as his body finally unfroze itself, and ran towards his friend._

_CRASH._

* * *

><p>Sasuke was jerked awake by a rough hand on his shoulders.<p>

"Hey Sasuke! Wake up, wake up!" Naruto was worried. He knew Sasuke must have had a nightmare, but he didn't know what kind of nightmare it was. He was thrashing a lot in his sleep, and he kept calling out someone's name. _Akemi, was it? It sounds really familiar._ He then realized it was the name of Sasuke's now deceased, best friend.

When Sasuke, finally opened his eyes, he was shocked. He was still blurred from sleep and shaken from the nightmare so he couldn't exactly tell illusion and reality apart at the moment.

He gasped. "A-Akemi?" He called out, his voice hoarse. Naruto was heartbroken. Sasuke looked just so lost and pitiful, that Naruto just couldn't bring himself to tell Sasuke that he was Naruto, not his best friend, Akemi. But before Naruto replied, Sasuke tightly hugged the blonde.

"Akemi, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Sasuke wept in Naruto's shoulders. Naruto was shocked, but seeing the raven so broken like this made his "motherly" side kick in. Naruto stroked Sasuke's hair, and made calming noises, whispering comforting words in Sasuke's ears.

"Shhh it's okay, Sasuke, it's okay. I'm here, it's okay." Naruto shushed similar words like that until Sasuke finally manage to calm down enough to stop shaking. Even when he stopped shaking, Naruto was still embracing Sasuke and stroking his hair, unable to let go of the raven.

Sasuke sat there, with his head on Naruto's shoulders.

"I missed you." He whispered, as his eyes started drooping, and he finally fell asleep after a few long minutes.

Naruto knew it was bad to pretend he was Sasuke's best friend, but he just couldn't help himself. He held the now sleeping Sasuke in his arms, relieved at how calm he now looked. He debated on whether to keep holding Sasuke, or whether to gently place him on the bed. Instead of his embrace on Sasuke loosening, it only tightened.

_I want to hold you just a little longer._

* * *

><p>(1) Actually, I don't know if shoplifting is a serious crime in Japan, but let's just say, for the sake of this chapter, it is okay? d:<p>

(2) During the flashback, Sasuke is sometime in high school.

* * *

><p>Awww, how sweet right? . . . Err.. . . Right? 3<p>

I hope you guys liked this chapter, because I was happy with it! :D

Plus, I got more reviews than I expected! Yay! I was sooo happy! 7 reviews just for the last chapter! (Chapter 4)

Keep the reviews coming! I hope I get 10 for this chapter :D The reviews are my MOTIVATION!

Well, until the next chapter, bye~


	6. Chapter 6: Dawn

_**PLEASE READ BEFORE READING THE CHAPTER**_

Hi guys! I"m sorry it's been a while huh? Like more than a week! If you guys noticed, I usually upload the next chapter in 5 days or so, but not this time. I'm sorry.

Part of it was I didn't get that much reviews D: So I wasn't very motivated to write this chapter. I had all the ideas in my head but I got lazy and I didn't have a lot of motivation. Another reason was my sister and her friends introduced me to this game called Maple Story.

It's pretty fun I think, but it's kind childish but I like it. Aha..that distracted me. I play of Arcania if that's how you spell it and my character name is Acrylis like my fanfiction username. So if you play, add me(: But LEAVE A REVIEW OF THIS CHAPTER and your character name so I know you're not just a random person that added me. But don't say anything about fanfiction unless it's private or something cuz remember, my sister can't find out I write Yaoi/Shounen-Ai right? Aha I bet no one plays anymore :P

OH! And why didn't anyone tell me I've been spelling "Masashi Kishimoto" wrong? I've been spelling it wrong for the last 5 chapters! Dx But I'm too lazy to go back and change them, aha..

**Disclaimer: I do not own this. All rights to Masashi Kishimoto.**

_Warnings: Not much except kind of bad language. I know it kind of seemed NaruSasu in the last chapter, but this is a SasuNaru story. You'll see latter on._

* * *

><p>By the next morning, Sasuke seemed to either have forgotten everything that happened last night, or was pretending to forget. But just because Sasuke forgot, it didn't mean Naruto did. How could he? He had never seen Sasuke look so broken in his life, and he decided he never did want to see Sasuke like that again. With set determination, Naruto swore he would do whatever he could so that Sasuke would never have to look (or feel) like how he was last night.<p>

As much as Naruto hated to admit, a part of him wished for a night to repeat itself again. He didn't know why but it just felt _right _when Sasuke was in his arms. He knew he was being way to sappy, but he couldn't help those thought from lingering into his mind every time he looked at Sasuke. And what's worse, it was the weekends, and that meant Sasuke didn't go to work. I mean, by then, Naruto has already figured out Sasuke's schedule more or less. He knew that Sasuke went to his writing job every weekday, and he would only go to his business job maybe once a week to check up on things, or if there was an emergency or any important meetings.

So now Naruto was sitting uncomfortably in the kitchen with breakfast ready while Sasuke was in the showers. He fidgeted uncomfortably and when he heard the shower door open, he jerked up.

Sasuke walked in with a towel on his head.

"Someone's a little jumpy today." Sasuke teased, although his voice was a bit plain, deadpan even. He pulled a chair out and sat down in front of Naruto.

"Itadakimasu." Sasuke said quietly as he reached for a red strawberry on the side of his plate. He bit into it just as Naruto spoke up.

"Ahh so Sasuke, do you remember anything that happened yesterday night?"

Sasuke looked up, confused by the question.

"Not really. Why, did anything bad happen?" Sasuke replied, worried if Itachi came back or something.

Naruto furiously shook his head. "No no nothing bad happened!" He quickly thought of an excuse. "I just fell on the floor again. It was pretty embarrassing. It was good you were sleeping right?" He laughed nervously and quickly looked down.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but decided to ignore the blonde's nervousness. He swallowed his food and changed the subject.

"So, Naruto, I think you should get out of the house more. Is there anything you want to do, like watch a movie or go to an amusement park or go shopping or something?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto's face scrunched up in concentration and after a few seconds, his eyes lit up.

"I wanna go to an amusement park!" He yelled excitedly.

Sasuke chuckled and nodded. "Okay okay, calm down dobe. We'll go after breakfast okay?" And he continued eating.

Naruto nodded eagerly and wolfed down his breakfast in hopes of getting to the amusement park faster.

~~~x~~~

When Naruto finished eating his breakfast, he went upstairs to take a shower because he couldn't take a shower while Sasuke was showering. _Well, actually I could but… _Naruto flushed red as thought of him and Sasuke showering together wandered into his mind. He furiously washed his face with water, wondering why he would even think of something like that. He quickly finished his shower and went to the kitchen, where Sasuke was on his laptop.

Naruto complained. "Sasuke! I thought we were going to go to an amusement park! Why are you on your laptop?"

Sasuke looked up from his screen to look at Naruto. He smiled and spoke "I'm looking at all the amusement parks you might want to go to." He turned his screen to show Naruto what he was looking at. "Pick the one you want to go to."

Naruto bent down a little to stare at the screen. Fuji Q Highland, Edo Wonderland, Nagashima Spa Land, Lotte World. (1) Naruto's eyes lit up at the familiar name. He remember his mom and dad used to take him there all the time when he was a kid. He had good memories stored in that place. Naruto excitedly jabbed the screen.

"Lotte World! I wanna go there!"

Sasuke chuckled and pulled the screen away from Naruto's fingers. "Okay okay. Don't break my screen."

Naruto quickly pulled back his finger and laughed. "Sorry sorry."

Sasuke stood up and made his way to his room. "Come on go get dressed."

Naruto quickly followed Sasuke into his room, surprised Sasuke had already picked his own clothes. The raven pointed to his closet and Naruto quickly took out a pair of slightly ripped skinny jeans, surprised Sasuke would have something like this, and a bright orange shirt, surprising Naruto again.

Sasuke stared incredulously at Naruto's strange choices but otherwise said nothing. He waited patiently for Naruto to finish dressing and they both made their way to Sasuke's car. Apparently, it was Naruto's first time to see the raven's car and couldn't help but stare. It was a nice sleek, shiny, black car that looked very, very expensive. Naruto wasn't used to these kinds of luxury items so he couldn't wait to get inside it.

When Naruto thought of the day Sasuke suddenly dragged Naruto into his car, he was sure it wasn't the same one.

"Sasuke, did you get a new car?" Naruto asked out loud.

Sasuke was slightly surprised that Naruto noticed, since Naruto had probably only gone outside once. "Yeah, you noticed?"

Naruto's eyes sparkled, as he leaped forward to inspect the car.

"Of course I did! Wow I wondered how much this cost? Why would you get a new car anyways? Well, I'm not complaining but."

Naruto was interrupted by Sasuke putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto calm down and get in the car already. It seems like it's really easy to fascinate you today, hm?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he stepped in the car and put on his seatbelt. He waited for a few seconds until Naruto finally stepped in.

Naruto seemed to enjoy every second on the ride to Lotte World. He was excited and felt very, _special, _to be able to sit in a car like this. As they neared the park, Naruto felt his excitement grow and he was starting to get butterflies in his stomach. After they parked and both stepped out, Sasuke couldn't help but smile when he was the huge grin plastered on Naruto's face. Sasuke, of course, paid for the tickets and they both stepped into the park.

Naruto's eyes gleamed with excitement and he looked like a little kid at his first time in a candy glanced around, taking in all the nostalgic sights; the large tall tower like rides and attractions, little kids running around with their parents, and the screams of enjoyment filling the air. Then suddenly, one attraction caught Naruto's attention, and it was, the Gyro Drop. He watched the ring go up, down, up down. At first he was excited, but after a few seconds, the butterflies in his stomach danced even more furiously than before. He gulped, now hesitating on whether to go on the ride or now.

"Naruto, you wanna ride that one?" Sasuke asked following Naruto's stare. Sasuke himself was not scared to go on any rides. He enjoyed roller coasters and things similar to them, he liked the exhilarating rush, but no one had to know that.

When Naruto didn't answer, Sasuke looked at Naruto, and realized the boy was scared. He smirked.

"Aw, what's wrong? Is big bad Naruto afraid of a little ride?" Sasuke teased, snapping Naruto back.

He scoffed. "Of course not, let's go before the line gets too long." As he dragged Sasuke to the back on the line.

Actually, the line itself as not very wrong, much to Naruto's disappointment. They were now strapped onto the seat and Naruto immediately regretted going on. His hands were getting sweaty, and he could literally feel the blood pulsing through his veins. Naruto was scared, no, he was freaked out. But at the same time, he was excited too. He leaned forward to take a glance at Sasuke, and realized he was still in his perfect and calm composure. Naruto almost laughed. Sasuke did look rather funny strapped in a roller coaster seat, with a bored expression on his face.

Actually, on the inside, Sasuke was excited. He wasn't scared of course, but he was getting "pumped up." He knew he wouldn't undignify himself by screaming when the ride starts, but he knew he couldn't stop himself from having fun. He glanced to his right, seeing a blue of bright yellow and realized it was Naruto leaning forward to take a look at him. He smirked.

"You scared, Naruto?" But before the blonde could reply, the ring took off, soaring to the sky. Sasuke was had a smile on his face which grew into a large smirk when he heard Naruto scream. It was rather funny to the raven, how the pitches of Naruto's screams would differ each them they went up and down.

After what seemed like an eternity to the blonde, the ride was finally over. Both stepped out of the ride, feeling slightly shaken and wobbly. Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other, each reaction different. Naruto was amazed that Sasuke's hair did not even look the slightest bit messy while on the other hand, Naruto's hair shot up, most likely from the wind. Sasuke laughed and pointed and the blonde's hair.

"Do you want to see how you look like right now?" He asked breathlessly between laughs.

Naruto stared confused and was quite surprised when Sasuke, out of nowhere, pulled out a camera and took a picture of Naruto's stunned face. Sasuke smirked at the screen and turned it around to show how stupid Naruto looked when the picture was taken. His eyes were wide with surprise and his hair was sticking up in odd angles. Naruto laughed at himself, but even if it was a funny picture, Naruto grabbed the camera to try to erase it. Of course, no one was fast enough for Uchiha Sasuke, as the raven swiftly moved the camera out of Naruto's reach.

"H-hey! Erase it!" Naruto yelled as he reached for the camera once again, only to have it slip through his fingers.

"I don't think so." Sasuke spoke as he safely tugged in the camera in his pocket. Naruto pouted but ended up giving up as Sasuke started walking away.

"So what else do you wanna ride?" Sasuke asked. Naruto's face lit up and he threw his arms in the air rather childishly.

"Everything!"

* * *

><p>By noon, Naruto and Sasuke have ridden almost everything outside. Both were already tired and worn out from all the rides they've been on, but that didn't stop them from riding more. I mean, they haven't even gone indoors yet! By then, Naruto was already starting to get hungry so he pulled on Sasuke's sleeve.<p>

"Hey hey, I'm hungry. Let's go eat!" Naruto suggested. Sasuke nodded and they both walked in the park, looking for a restaurant or any stalls selling food. After walking around for a few minutes, they found a place that made different typed of noodles. Naruto hurriedly dragged Sasuke to the restaurant and pushed open the glass doors.

The restaurant was already filled with people because it was, what they call, rush hour. Naruto frowned when he couldn't find any available seats, but as soon as Sasuke stepped in, the whispers started.

"That's Uchiha Sasuke! And there's that blonde kid he kissed on TV!" Whispers of envy from women filled the air. Of course, all the people were none too polite about their gossips and their rather loud whispers were not left unheard from both the blonde and raven. Naruto shifted uncomfortably and blushed when he was reminded of that moment while Sasuke merely glared at anyone who dared to whisper any more, immediately quieting the room. Sasuke spoke up.

"Are there any tables for two people?" He asked. Two servers immediately stepped forward and led them to the back, where there were a few tables for two. They chose a secluded one in a corner and sat down quietly, trying their best to ignore the stares from the other people in the room. A server brought their menus and asked for their drinks.

Both Sasuke and Naruto ordered water and the server left to bring them their drinks. After a few moments of silence, Sasuke was the first to talk.

"So what are you going to get?"

Naruto's head snapped up.

"Uh-uh-uhm, I think I'll get…" Naruto trailed off as his eyes scanned the menu. After a few seconds, he spoke up.

"I want the miso ramen." Naruto stated. Sasuke nodded and called for a server to come. When he came, Naruto was the first to order.

"I want a miso ramen please." Naruto said, and when the server gestured to Sasuke, he ordered.

"Tsukemen, please." After having both their orders, the server left after giving both a warning that the food they ordered will take a while to prepare. Naruto pouted since he was starving, but Sasuke merely waved him off. And the server was right, it had already been twenty minutes of awkward silences and piercing stares, and their food was still not here! Naruto was getting impatient.

He started tapping his fingernails on the wooden table, muttering complains and whines until Sasuke talked.

"Be a little more patient, Naruto." The raven spoke with a bored tone. He might have sounded and looked apathetic, but he was getting a little impatient himself too. He was hungry, just like the blonde, except he wouldn't outwardly show it. After a few more minutes, the food finally came, and much to Naruto's disappointment, the ramen didn't look like anything special. Sasuke quickly, but calmly, started eating his food, while Naruto simply stared at his bowl, hunger forgotten at the moment. After a few seconds Sasuke noticed Naruto had not even touched his food yet and frowned.

"Naruto, what are you doing? Why aren't you eating?" Sasuke asked. The two had already spent more time than necessary in this restaurant and he did not want to waste any more. His question seemed to snap Naruto back into reality because he immediately snapped apart his chopsticks and started eating.

When the noodles touched Naruto's mouth, his eye opened widely. The ramen was, was, _delicious! _He had truly never tried anything that even tasted similar to this. _Wow, it may not look like much, but it's really good! _Naruto thought happily as he gobbled down the res t of the bowl.

After Sasuke and Naruto were done with their lunches, they set off for less _extreme _rides since both were on a full stomach. A long line caught the blonde's attention, and he quickly dragged Sasuke to it.

"Hey what do you think this is?" Naruto asked curiously. Sasuke saw what the line was for and answered the blonde.

"The Adventures of Sinbad." Sasuke spoke, feeling a little childish saying the name. "It's a boat attraction I think."

Naruto's eyes sparkled. "I wanna ride on it!" Sasuke sighed, not wanting to waste time on an attraction like this, but decided that Naruto had probably not been on rides like this, or he hasn't ridden one in a while so he let himself be lead to the back of the line. Apparently, Sasuke was very famous because as soon as people saw him walk in line with Naruto, people immediately let both past to the front. Naruto was surprised but he wasn't one to let other people's generosity go to waste.

They literally walked to the front of the line and made it just in time for the next boat, which only had two more seats left. Perfect. The blonde eagerly took the seat to the right while Sasuke followed in afterwards. The workers were stunned than Uchiha Sasuke was going to ride on the boat they were operating, all workers thinking of how they would brag to their friends that they had an Uchiha on their boat.

After a few moments of staring, the workers gave warning to keep hands and feet in the boat at all times, and sent the boat off, watching the back of the raven drifting off into the darkness.

The ride started off in a dark tunnel with dramatic music playing and eerie looking statues, emphasized by the light shining under them. Then as the boat moved forward, the "princess" came into view, crying for someone to help them. Naruto gasped dramatically, and cried out, "Princess, hang in there!" much to Sasuke amusement, making it very hard for the raven to not roll his eyes or laugh. Naruto made loud comments throughout the boat ride, causing many people to now glare at the obnoxious blonde who ruined their whole ride. They would have told the blonde to shut up if not for the raven he was riding with.

When the ride was over, people quickly got off the boat to talk to Sasuke, crowding over him to ask him questions, or flirt with him if any females thought they were beautiful enough to catch the raven's attention, leaving the not so beautiful ones to hide in the back of the crowd.

Sasuke scowled. He did not need this right now, and he had now lost sight of the blonde, who should have been right next to him. He pushed his way out of the crowd in search for anything bright and orange, but a few of the desperate females were still fawning over him. He growled and said the one thing he never should have.

"Please go away. I'm trying to look for my boyfriend and you three following me aren't helping." Sasuke growled at the shocked females' faces. They hurriedly walked away whispering frantic whispers, all looking crushed.

Sasuke froze. What the hell did he just do? He shook his head and quickly walked out in search for Naruto.

* * *

><p>Naruto was a bit mad, He knew he was being childish and that he had no reason to be mad, but seeing all those girls fawn over Sasuke stirred a rumble in him, and not just at the girls, but at Sasuke too, for letting them flirt with him. He knew that he and Sasuke were nothing more than good friends, but he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. They were both having a fun time before those girls came along. It was his first time out of the house in a while and those girls just had to ruin it! He excused his jealousy as a friendly one, only being jealous because his <em>friend <em>was, in a way, taken from him. _Anyone would be jealous, right?_

Naruto stopped walking so fast and looked back, to see anyone that had hair like a duck's butt in the crowd. To his disappointment, he found none and began to panic. He was alone. He frantically looked around and started making his way back to the attraction, hoping the raven was somewhere looking for him, and he was. Apparently, Sasuke was walking in the opposite direction Naruto was going and the two ended up smacking into each other. Most of it was Naruto's fault, since he was the one who was panicky and walking faster than he should, but Sasuke was just surprised when the blonde suddenly popped out of nowhere and couldn't find the time in dodging the incoming blonde.

After catching his breath, Naruto looked up and hugged Sasuke, in a playful way.

"Sasuke!" He yelled happily, previous anger forgotten. Sasuke just stood there surprised and quickly pushed Naruto away from him.

"Naruto, too close, too close!" He grunted as he finally managed to pry the blonde's arms from him.

"Why did you leave me back there? Why didn't you wait?" Sasuke demanded. He wasn't exactly mad but he was a little frustrated. The blonde could've helped him back there.

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, but you looked like you were having fun."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Fun? Having females claw over you in fun?"

Naruto couldn't help it. He burst into laughter and patted Sasuke on the back. "You're right, it wouldn't be fun."

With that settled, the two set off to ride more rides, Sasuke letting Naruto choose all the rides to go on. Luckily, Naruto chose a ride that Sasuke also wanted to go on, which was The French Revolution. The blue roller coaster that twirled its way through both outdoors and indoors the park. It had loops and some drops, but it wasn't anything too extreme. Naruto settled for that and quickly dragged Sasuke to the line, if you could even call it one. The line was only made of a few people so when 소 next cart came, everyone was able to ride it on the first time.

The cart started off slowly, then speeded up as soon as the drop came, which then brought them to a dark tunnel. Naruto wasn't sure if they were still in a drop of not but he was having fun screaming at the top of his lungs. This wasn't scary like the Gyro Drop or the Gyro Swing, he was actually enjoying it. They were outside, but only for a short time as the cart plunged into darkness once more. Then they sped through a tunnel with flashing lights, which Naruto "oohed" at, but right after that, a huge drop came, followed by a loop. The cart slowly passed the hot air balloon attraction, and when Naruto spotted the camera, he patted Sasuke and told him to smile. Naruto stuck two fingers out and stuck out his tongue while Sasuke just rolled his eyes, surprised when the camera flash told him it was taken as a picture, and immediately scowling.

Naruto thought the ride was over so he relaxed but he was wrong. There was one last drop, surprising him, until the cart reached to a stop. Naruto and Sasuke hopped off, both feeling a little woozy from the ride. Nevertheless, Naruto wanted more. He looked around, spotting the Giant Loop, quickly dragging Sasuke to it. He was currently on a roller coaster high and forgot that he hated rides like the Giant Loop, and didn't realize until he was strapped in, and it was already too late.

"Oh God." Naruto said, before the ride started, making the cart go around and around in loops. It was a very slow ride, so you would stay upside down or in an awkward angle for quite a while. Naruto was busy screaming while Sasuke was bust trying to keep his shirt from rolling up when they were upside-down. Of course, Sasuke just had to choose that moment to glance at Naruto.

They were on their way of going upside-down again. Naruto's eyes were squeezed shut, but he seemed to stop screaming, but of course, his shirt was slightly rolling up, showing a well toned, tanned stomach. Sasuke stared, and stared, until the shirt rolled back down again, covering Sasuke view. He scowled and was about to curse the shirt out loud but he stopped himself. _What the hell am I doing_? Sasuke asked himself for the second time that day. Was he checking his friend out during a ride? He shook his head and patiently waited for the ride to end, which seemed like a very long time to both the blonde and the raven.

When they got off, Naruto was still shaken a bit and had to stay still for a while. He held on to Sasuke's shoulders to keep from falling. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong, Naruto? You were the one who dragged me on that ride." He teased a bit.

Naruto nodded, still not able to talk, but after a few deep breaths he spoke.

"Don't blame me, blame my adrenaline. I forgot for a while that I don't do well on rides like that." He looked pale, like he was going to throw up, and he was facing Sasuke, so the raven quickly backed away, hands out in front of him.

"N-Naruto, you're not going to throw up or anything, are you?" Sasuke spoke worriedly, dreading the answer when Naruto nodded. He jumped back some more, but the blonde's head snapped up, revealing a large grin.

"Just kidding! I got you!." Naruto laughed. "This was for that we're locked out of the house prank from before. Don't think I forgot about it!"

Sasuke scowled.

* * *

><p>After a few more hours in the park, the two were sure they had ridden every ride and seen every attraction, except one, one that Naruto was hoping they wouldn't have to go on.<p>

The Tomb of Horror. It was a horror maze game in which you had to pick from three doors, each containing something frightening inside. You had to choose the right doors to get out. Naruto and Sasuke were currently in front of the attraction, debating whether to go in or not.

Suddenly, a hand tapped Naruto on the back. He quickly turned around.

"Wha- HOLY SHIT!" Naruto screamed as he immediately thrusted Sasuke in front of him, using him as a shield from the masked man that was behind him. Sasuke chuckled as the masked man waved.

"He's just a worker trying to get more people to go in the maze. No need to be scared of him." He explained to Naruto, who quickly let him go and blushed.

"I-I was just surprised! Come on, let's go in the maze." Naruto huffed as he tried to gain his pride back.

As they entered the maze, not even a minute has passed before Naruto already started regretting his decision. They came to the first set of doors, Naruto prompting Sasuke to go first. The raven sighed and chose to open the first door, Naruto trailing behind. In the door was a disheveled looking women holding a knife, who screamed and lunged at Naruto.

The blonde screamed and grabbed Sasuke, once again using him as a shield once again. Sasuke, who had been to this maze many times with his brother, was not impressed. Being the arrogant man he was, he simple said hello and made his way to the next set of doors. Before he could turn the doorknob, Naruto stopped him.

"Stop! I'm going to choose now. You chose a really scary one you know." Naruto spoke, eyes still full of fear. Sasuke gestured to the doors, allowing Naruto to choose. But once again, it wasn't the right door, and this time, it was a room with a little girl, holding a doll. She looked pretty innocent so Naruto smiled.

"Hey what do you know Sasuke? I think I chose the right door." Naruto said proudly as he made his way to the little girl. Sasuke followed, but when Naruto crouched to talk to the little girl, he jumped back, falling onto Sasuke.

"She has no eyes, Sasuke! No eyes!" Naruto wailed as he quickly scrambled to hit feet and looked for the next set of doors. After a few set of doors, Sasuke had already remembered which doors they had already gone through, but was quite amused by Naruto's reactions, and chose to not say anything when Naruto reached for the door which should have the little girl in again.

Naruto, still latched onto Sasuke's arm walked in slowly, and as soon as he caught sight of the little girl, wailed.

"Get me out of here, Sasuke!"

The raven scoffed, but he realized the blonde actually looked like he was going to burst into tears. Sasuke sighed and lead Naruto out of the maze, surprising Naruto. When they got out, Naruto breathed a large sigh of relief.

"Light, Ah. Sweet light!" Naruto yelled as the lights from the park shone in his eyes. He saw that it was already dark and realized they must have spent quite some time in the maze. He looked around for Sasuke, happy to find him behind and held onto his hand to drag him somewhere away from the aze.

Sasuke, having had it being dragged around, pulled his hand away.

"Naruto, just tell me where to go instead of dragging me around everywhere. My arm's going to fall off." Naruto, still shaken by the maze, could not catch the sarcasm in the raven's voice and immediately let go.

"You're joking right? Your arm's not really going to fall off right?" He asked nervously.

Sasuke smirked. "Yes I was joking. Now where do you want to go next?"

Naruto thought of something to bring him back from the frightening things in the maze and grinned.

"Let's ride the blue rollercoaster again!" He cheered as he and the raven made their way to the roller coaster.

Like usual, there were no lines, and when Naruto put on his seatbelt, he smiled and closed his eyes for a while, waiting for the workers to check is his seatbelt was put on right. When he felt his seatbelt moving, he opened his eyes to greet the worker, but instead of meeting a human face, he met a ghoul's face.

Naruto, both surprised by the mask and apparently still shaken from the ride could not do anything but scream and act of impulse, which was to punch the crap out of whatever was in front of him, and his fist smacked the face in front of him.

Sasuke yelled, quite surprised. "Naruto, what are you doing!" Sasuke asked.

Naruto stammered. "I-I-he was- the face- I."

Sasuke laughed. "It's night so all the workers here put on that mask after it gets dark."

Naruto stared confused when the worker pulled of the mask, revealing the worker to be a brunette with red, triangular tattoos under his eyes. He glared.

"What was that for, man?" He demanded. "I didn't see any need for you to punch my face!"

Naruto stared, confused. "I didn't mean to, I'm sorry!" Naruto apologized quickly. The worker simply waved him off "Yeah yeah, whatever." He grumbled as he started the ride.

Naruto, just as expected, enjoyed the roller coaster and all the frightening feelings from before had vanished, and fatigue and tiredness replaced them. He yawned.

"Are you tired, Naruto?" Sasuke asked. "We could go home if you want to."

Naruto nodded, liking that idea, but when someone announced the laser show was going to start soon, Naruto's face lit up.

"Wait, I wanna see the laser show."

Sasuke nodded and led Naruto to the balcony, where the show was played.

Naruto was just dazzled. The mist and the lights matched perfectly. It was very beautiful but exciting at the same time because of the music in the background. Streams of lights danced across the ceiling, only to disappear in a matter of seconds. Naruto had truly never seen anything like it before.

Sasuke, someone who had already seen the show many times before, was looking at the blonde, instead of watching the show. He smiled when he saw how happy the blonde looked, and couldn't stop the warm bubbly feeling rising up inside him when he realized he was the reason for Naruto's happiness. Even if it was just for that day.

* * *

><p>(1) Okay I know Lotte World is in South Korea, but I don't know the amusement parks in Japan and I wanted things here to be realistic because I've been to Lotte World. The descriptions are made from memory so correct me if I'm wrong.<p>

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><p>Whoo I finally finished this chapter. Please please please please PLEASE REVIEW! OR SUBSCRIBE! OR FAVORITE THIS STORY!<p>

Well, until the next chapter, bye~

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><p><strong>Edited Note: <strong>As I was reading over this chapter, I found a lot of mistakes so I went and fixed them, so if you get a notification or something, sorry to disappoint ): But I'm planning to try and finish this chapter and post it up by tomorrow (Friday, June 24). But I'm kind of getting disappointed and unmotiviated. Please reviewwww! But thank you to those who did, **Fireotaku18 **and **xjustanotherstar **:D


	7. Chapter 7: Joke

Hey! I'm sorry I couldn't get this chapter in by Friday, but one day late isn't that bad right? It was pretty hard finishing this chapter, mainly because my neighbor's kids were having a birthday party or something. Sigh. The sound of screaming kids is not very appealing.

Oh my gosssshh I just watched the last episode of Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi! I was a bit dissapointed at the ending, but... Well anyways, let's all hope for season 2!

And Deadman Wonderland is almost over too! Let's hope for a second season for DW too!

Well, here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I do not own this. All rights to Masashi Kishimoto.**

_Warning: kind of seems like a bit of NejiNaru. Jealous Sasuke, a bit of SasuNaru in the end. Itachi. Dun. dun dunnn._

* * *

><p>The next morning, Naruto and Sasuke were lying side by side on the same bed. Of course, Naruto was still sound asleep, while Sasuke was awake, although feeling a bit tired. He would have liked to get some more sleep, but his body never let him sleep after eight in the morning, no matter how late he slept the night before. He sat up and scowled. <em>All I want to do is sleep in, just for on freaking day! <em>Sasuke thought angrily, nut his anger was quickly dissolved when he saw the blonde sleeping next to him.

A soft smile rose on his lips and he reached out to comb his fingers through Naruto's hair, feeling it to be as soft and silky as ever. He watched the boy sleep while still touching Naruto's hair, thinking how it wasn't fair that this boy here could get as much sleep as he wanted, while Sasuke's body just refused to give him what he wanted. Surprisingly, just by watching the blonde sleep, he, himself was also getting tired. He laid back down and faced Naruto, surprised when the blonde turned over so that he was now facing Sasuke. Sasuke smiled, pleased that Naruto's face was the last thing he saw before his eyes closed and he drifted into wonderful sleep, once again.

~~~x~~~

Naruto woke up feeling warmer than usual. It felt nice but weird at the same time. He peeked one eye open, surprised to see Sasuke sleeping so close and immediately pushed him away.

"AHH! Too close!" He yelled as he scrambled to put some distance between them using the pillows and blankets as a wall. Sasuke, who was never polite when woken from a nice sleep, especially one that he would never get to feel in a while, was quite frustrated when he was awoken by hitting the ground with a loud thump.

"N-Naruto, what was that for?" Sasuke demanded, as he tried to climb on the bed using the blankets. Naruto gaped and apologized by putting his hands together, letting go of the blankets that Sasuke was trying to use as a rope to climb back onto the bed, leading him to fall to the floor once again.

"Ow! Naruto!" Sasuke yelled. As he gave up trying to go on the bed, and settled for standing up.

"Get up already." Sasuke said with his hands on his hips, causing Naruto to giggle a little bit.

"You kind of look like a mom with that pose." Naruto giggled. A vein twitched in Sasuke's forehead.

"Okay you know what?" Sasuke spoke calmly, immediately giving Naruto the shivers.

"A-ah, Sasuke?" Naruto whimpered.

_Grooowl._

A sudden growling sound that came from Sasuke's stomach relieved all the tension in the room. Now Naruto was straining not to laugh. Sasuke then put a hand on his stomach and said, "I'm hungry." And walked out of the room to make his way into the kitchen, leaving Naruto alone to burst out in laughter.

After having his laugh, he walked out to the kitchen, following Sasuke. When he saw the raven look in to the refrigerator, Naruto stopped.

"Eh-Are you gonna make breakfast today?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. _Did he not look at the clock on his way out of the room? _Sasuke thought as he answered calmly.

"No, I'm making lunch."

Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Lunch? Why lunch?" Naruto asked.

"Did you look at the clock, dobe? It's almost twelve." Sasuke replied to a rather shocked Naruto.

"Whaat? We slept that much?" He yelled as he quickly turned in circles, looking for a clock. He found one on the microwave and rushed to it. _11:57. _

"Ah. It's true." Was all Naruto could say while Sasuke gathered some ingredients for their lunch. This was the first time Sasuke had ever made a meal for them, despite it already being almost a month since Naruto moved in here, so Naruto watched him carefully. By watching him cook, he realized that Sasuke even cooked perfectly and elegantly, which was slightly amusing to Naruto.

He wondered if Sasuke was taught to do all these things when he was little, trying to imagine a little Sasuke trying to reach a dish on a cupboard and giving up and pouting when he realized he could not reach it. He chuckled and when he looked up to watch Sasuke again, he found the raven staring back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Lunch is ready."

Naruto grinned and made his way to the table, mouth watering at the smell. Sasuke had made a garlic chicken stir fry with rice. Naruto knew it wasn't anything special, but it just smelled so good. Naruto happily plopped down on his seat, grabbing a pair of chopsticks and poking it through a piece of chicken. He popped it into his mouth, smiled and chewed rapidly, eagerly reaching for another piece.

"Mmm Sasuke, you're a really good cook! This is the first time I tried your cooking and it's sooo good. Why didn't you cook for me before?" Naruto asked with his mouth full. Sasuke merely nodded with thanks, disappointing Naruto by the lack of response from the raven, but that was because he couldn't see how please Sasuke was on the inside.

Sasuke may have looked apathetic on the outside, but deep down, he was pleased with the compliment. Since he hadn't had the chance to cook for a lot of people, he never knew if people thought his cooking was good or not. They continued to eat in silence, like most of their meals, but the air around this one was different. It was light and comfortable, instead of it being awkward and heavy.

When they were done, Sasuke told Naruto to leave the dishes where they are, but when Naruto complained at how dirty it would be, Sasuke merely sighed.

"I'll wash the dishes so you go do something else." He spoke. Naruto shook his head.

"No, no I'll wash the dishes." Naruto insisted. The two kept arguing and in the end, agreed to just both wash the dishes together. Sasuke would wash the dishes, and hand them off to Naruto to dry. At first, it was a bit awkward, but Naruto, being the childish boy he was, started playing with the leftover suds on the dishes, lightening the mood. Sasuke chuckled when a small cloud of soap bubbles came floating down and landed on Naruto's nose.

The blonde stared at it for a while, eyes criss-crossing to get a good look. He seemed to be very focused on the cloud and was very surprised when Sasuke leaned in and blew the sud off of Naruto's nose. The cloud floated gently down until it reached the sink, being followed by Naruto's eyes until it was washed down the drain. Sasuke handed a wet plate to Naruto. Sasuke held the plate in midair for a while, but when he realized the blonde was not taking it from his hands, spoke up.

"Hey, dry this."

Naruto snapped and quickly reached for the plate, but in his rush, he accidentally also grabbed Sasuke's hands. Naruto was shocked by the contact pulled away, just when Sasuke let go of the of the plate, thinking Naruto had a good grip on it, and the plate fell to the ground and luckily, only cracked.

"Hey, hey Naruto. Why did you let go off the plate?" Sasuke asked exasperated, while reaching down to pick up the plate. He picked up the plate and went to throw it away, brushing past Naruto to reach the trash can.

"U-um, I'm sorry." Naruto stammered out, blushing.

Sasuke came back with a skeptical look, not understanding why the blonde was so nervous.

"It's fine. You're not hurt, are you?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto shook his head and the two got back to work, finishing after a few minutes. When they were done, they both made their way into the living room, deciding to watch TV and just relax since they both had a very tiring day yesterday. Sasuke sat on the armchair while Naruto sat spread out across the couch. They both watched particularly nothing for about an hour or so, enjoying the calm silence as well as each other's presence when the door bell suddenly rang, jolting both of them.

Sasuke frowned, wondering who would visit him. His frown deepened and turned into a scowl as he opened the door and met a familiar face.

"Itachi." Sasuke seethed out. "What are you doing here?" He demanded, ready to slam the door at his face if the man made any move to come in.

The man smiled. "There's something I have to talk to you about." He spoke calmly, the words flowing freely out of him.

Sasuke scowled. "I don't want to hear it." And immediately slammed the door in the man's face, but Itachi's foot stopped him from closing the door all the way.

"Sasuke, this is important. Let me in."

After a few struggles, the raven eventually gave up and opened the door wider.

"Come in."

Itachi stepped in wearing a suit and tie like usual, and sat himself on the armchair Sasuke was sitting on, giving an overly sweet, sickly smile to Naruto, which made the boy shudder with disgust and glare at the man.

Sasuke sat next to Naruto and crossed his arms.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" He asked, not expecting anything good.

Itachi cleared his throat. "I would like to be alone first."

Sasuke scowled, but gave in. "Naruto, go to my working room please."

Naruto gaped. "B-but." He complained.

"Naruto." Sasuke said a little louder.

He nodded and hurriedly walked out of the living room and made his way to Sasuke working room, although he had no intention to stay there.

"So why are you here?" Sasuke asked. Itachi smiled.

"Sasuke, no need to rush. I have all day."

The raven scowled. "Well I don't want you here all day so hurry up."

Itachi chuckled but got right onto point.

"I have some _interesting _background on that little blonde friend of yours. Would you like to know?"

Sasuke scowled, but he was curious and he let his brother continue on.

Itachi cleared his throat. "I expect no interruptions whatsoever." Itachi stated, continuing only after a nod from his younger brother.

"Have you ever asked him why he was on the streets?" Although it was a question, he gave Sasuke no time to answer.

"It was because he was gay and his mom kicked him out. While he was on the streets, he apparently survived by stealing from minor shops. He wasn't arrested because none of the shops pressed any charges against him, probably out of pity. Not only that, but he also stole one thousand dollars from his mother's bank account using his deceased father's name. He also got into many street fights because of the connections he had with the wrong people." Now Itachi knew that was a lie, but a little false information won't hurt right? He continued on. "He was then admitted to the hospital but was released I believe, the day after. Well of course, that's just extra information."

Itachi smirked and waited for his brother's response, which was something he was very much expecting. Sasuke was wide eyes with surprise. Itachi knew that when Sasuke was in high school, he had many people pretend to be his friend so they could steal his money, or that one expensive watch Sasuke happened to be wearing, so he knew his brother had a thing against people who steal. And since he added that _extra_ information about Naruto's connections, he was sure Sasuke would want to do nothing with the blonde.

* * *

><p>Naruto was currently, hiding behind a wall with a shocked face after eavesdropping on their conversation. He was shocked that Itachi would just randomly come and spill his past to Sasuke. He was even on the verge of tears! <em>Oh no. Sasuke's going to abandon me for sure. <em>Naruto thought as he sank to the ground and waited for Sasuke's response. He heard a loud noise which made him jump and quickly look to see what was happening.

Sasuke had his fist on the table and his eyes were filled with anger. Naruto held his breath. Sasuke was mad at him for sure. But what Sasuke said surprised him to the core.

"Itachi, you don't seem to understand what I think about Naruto. I don't care if he stole from stores or took money from his mother's bank account, I mean, that's what he had to do to survive. So don't come in my house with _interesting _information like that thinking it would make me hate Naruto. If that's all, please leave." Sasuke said firmly. Then, he noticed the blonde hair sticking out from the wall. Realizing it was Naruto, he smiled.

"Naruto, stop hiding and come out." Sasuke called.

The blonde held his breath and slowly walked out, scared if Sasuke was angry at him for eavesdropping. When Naruto was standing next to Sasuke, the raven immediately reached out and placed an arm around Naruto, causing the blonde to blush and stammer.

"Sasuke!" Naruto squeaked with surprise.

"Like I said before, you can't make me hate Naruto. Please leave." Sasuke spoke calmly.

Itachi merely raised an eyebrow but made his way to the door.

"He'll be a burden to you, Sasuke. Get rid of him while you can." And he slammed the door shut behind him.

Sasuke scowled. _How dare he say something like that?_ His grip on Naruto tightened without him noticing until Naruto spoke up.

"U-um. Sasuke? You can let go now." Naruto said. Sasuke immediately pulled his arm away and muttered an apology before sitting back on the couch.

"S-so, you're not mad?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"What for?"

"You know, how I stole from stores and got into fights. Ah-but the thing he said about me having connections with the wrong people isn't true!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Okay I believe you. And of course I wouldn't be mad. I would've probably done the same thing if I was on the streets." He chuckled and reached out to ruffle Naruto's hair.

"H-hey!" Naruto protested, as he tried to smooth out his hair again. Just then, Sasuke's phones rang, causing the raven to scowl.

"What is it this time?" The raven murmured as he reached for the phone.

"Uchiha Sasuke speaking." He answered.

Naruto watched Sasuke's face from being playful, to serious, to worried, then, to anger.

"What do you mean he wouldn't agree to the changes?" Sasuke demanded. He waited a few seconds for the person to answer and replied right away.

"All right I'll be there soon." And with that, he snapped his phone shut.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke sighed. "One of the new authors wouldn't agree to the changes one of the editors made on his manuscript so I have to go there and make him agree. Sorry, I don't know how long I'll be out."

With that said, he made his was out the apartment, leaving Naruto alone to brood over what just happened. He stared at the ceiling for a couple of minutes and went to the kitchen, getting a drink of water. He then made his way back to the living room and stared at the ceiling. He was lying on the couch, arms crossed beneath his head, when he started feeling a bit tired, and sooner or later, dozed off.

The door bell rang, jerking Naruto awake. He stared at the door, debating on whether to open it or not.

Then a sudden thought raced through his mind. _It could be Sasuke. _Naruto leaped up from the couch and opened the door, surprised to see who was standing outside.

"Neji? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, surprised. "If you're looking for Sasuke, he's out."

Neji smiled. "No, I would like to ask you something."

"Oh, what is it?"

"You see, I don't have to go to work today and there's a carnival near here. Would you like to go with me?"

Naruto blinked and the sudden question. "Uh…" Naruto hesitated to answer, since he wasn't sure when Sasuke would be back, and he was still tired from yesterday, but what Itachi said before he left floated back into his mind.

"_Get rid of him while you can…..Only be a burden." _

Naruto shook his head and smiled. "Sure! Let's go."

* * *

><p>When the two arrived at the festival, Naruto was dazzled once again.<p>

"Wooow look at all the food!" Naruto gushed, running to the nearest food stall, which happened to be selling dango. Neji chuckled and followed the eager blonde.

"Do you want one?" He asked.

"Really? Thanks Neji!"

In the end, they both ended up getting some dango and started walking towards a place to eat, since Neji didn't like walking and eating at the same time. When Naruto found a place to sit in the shade, he ran over there and sat down, Neji following him soon after.

When they both started eating, Naruto spoke up after taking a bite of his dango.

"So, how did you know I live with Sasuke?" Naruto asked, quite curious.

Neji chuckled. "I have my ways." Was his short answer, which was not satisfying to Naruto.

"Err. Well, why'd you ask me to go with you then?"

Neji sighed and looked at the sky. "Why indeed."

Naruto immediately frowned and looked away. _This guy is weird. Totally weird. _He though as they ate their snacks in silence. When they were done, Naruto jumped up.

"Neji let's go on the bumper carts!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. Neji smiled and agreed and the two made their way to the tent. Naruto frowned when he saw the huge line, but like Sasuke, Neji also seemed to be very famous, because as soon as people caught sight of him, they let him cut them and they eventually made their way to the front of the line.

Naruto huffed. _Must be nice being rich and famous. _But like before, he didn't complain and soon enough, they were both on bumper carts, looking at each other.

"I'm so gonna get you Neji." Naruto smiled.

"Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you look like a girl." Neji joked. He was quite amused at the response.

"What! I do not look like a girl!" His response was drowned out by the alarm, starting the carts and Neji was able to crash into Naruto while the blonde scrambled to get his cart started. In the end, Neji was able to literally throw Naruto and his cart all around the area, because Naruto wasn't quite fast enough and didn't know how to control the carts as well as Neji.

They both walked out of the tent, Neji with a triumphant smirk on his face while Naruto smiled sheepishly.

"Well…You got me there, Neji." Naruto chuckled, but when he caught sight of a "Test Your Strength" booth, he quickly dragged the brunette to the booth.

"I bet I'll get a better score than you." Naruto challenged. Neji, being the competitive type he was, just couldn't back down from that challenge and agreed. Neji also won this time, winning a large teddy bear, while Naruto walked away with only a small frog keychain.

Naruto pouted, looking unbelievably childish and looked for something else to play. He caught sight of those booths with water guns and once again, dragged Neji there.

"I'll win this time, for sure!" Naruto whooped in the air before the attendant explained the game.

"You have to try to shoot water into that little hole to make your horse reach the finish line. Whoever reaches it first is the winner. Ready, set, go!"

All contestants, Naruto, Neji, a couple on a date, and a little girl, all shot their guns, trying to move their guns in the movement of the swirl to get as much water in the hole as possible. This time, Naruto won, badly, and walked away with a large fox doll with nine tails. Naruto whooped in the air and smacked Neji in the back of the head.

"I won!" He whooped. Then he caught sight of the little girl begging her dad to let her pay again and walked to her. He crouched down and gave the doll to the girl.

"Here you go, you can have it." Naruto smiled. The little girl's eyes sparkled and she eagerly took the doll and gave it a big hug.

"Mariko, don't forget to thank him.' Her dad reminded. The little girl said her thanks and happily walked away, one hand holding the doll, and the other tightly holding her dad's hands. Naruto watch them run into what seemed like the rest of their family. The mom smiled at the girl while her brother pouted and yelled out. "No fair! I want a doll" While the dad chuckled and agreed to get him one later, and the four walked away.

Naruto sighed, sights like that were so nostalgic. After a few seconds he turned around and hopped back to Neji.

"Why'd you give it away?" The brunette asked.

Naruto smiled. "She probably wants it more than me. I mean, I'm a grown adult!" Naruto placed his hands on his hips and puffed his chest out. Neji chuckled and placed an arm on Naruto's shoulder.

"Stop it before you embarrass yourself."

"What? I am _not _embarrassing myself!" Naruto complained, but when he saw that Neji was already walking away, quickly followed.

"H-hey, wait!"

* * *

><p>After an hour or so, Naruto and Neji had played almost all the game booths at the carnival, both being very competitive, trying to get the most wins as possible. They were down to the last game with a tie. The last booth sponsored an eating game called the Cinnamon Challenge. Players would have to completely swallow one tablespoon of cinnamon powder without the help of water. Naruto's eyes gleamed.<p>

"Neji! That sounds like fu-"

Naruto stopped talking when a flash of red hair caught his attention. _Okasan?_ Naruto thought as he caught sight of a woman with long, red hair. She soon vanished in the crowd, leaving Naruto to only stare and wonder.

A hand on his shoulder brought Naruto back to reality. "Naruto, the booth is that way." Neji pointed, wondering what had made Naruto just stare and particularly nothing.

"Huh? O-oh yeah! Let's go! This is the tie-breaker after all."

The two received their table spoons of cinnamon, and when the attendant yelled "Go!" All contestants put the cinnamon in their mouth. Naruto was only looking at Neji and was trying to do all he could to not burst into laughter.

Neji's reaction to the cinnamon was hilarious! His eyes widened and he started to cough, a puff of cinnamon coming from Neji's mouth. And when he scrambled to reach for water, that was it. Naruto burst into laughter, all the cinnamon in his mouth coming out in one brown puff of cinnamon.

In the end, a guy that looked strangely familiar to Naruto (1), won and received a large inflatable hammer that made a squeaking noise when it hit something. Naruto and Neji left the stall, Naruto still red of laughter, and Neji still coughing from the cinnamon.

"So, I guess I won right?" Naruto grinned.

Neji smiled and nodded once he calmed down.

They both made their way out of the carnival, having enough fun for today. Honestly, Naruto did have fun, although it was a bit awkward at first, but he couldn't help but think he would've enjoyed this day more if Sasuke was here instead of Neji.

Neji dropped Naruto off at Sasuke's apartment, said their goodbyes, and drove off. Naruto made his way up to Sasuke's apartment and opened the door. Sasuke had given him a copy of the apartment key just in case, so Naruto wasn't locked out or anything, but he was surprised to find the door was already unlocked. Had he forgotten to lock it?

He opened the door and called out.

"Sasuke? Are you back?"

Sasuke emerged from the kitchen and glared at the blonde.

"Naruto! Where were you? Do you know how worried I was?" Sasuke demanded. "If you were going to go out somewhere, you could've at least left a note or something!"

Naruto sheepishly smiled. "Sorry. Neji asked me to go to the carnival with him and I was really bored so I said yes."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "You were with Neji?" He asked.

Naruto only nodded, suddenly feeling a bit nervous and having second thought on whether he should have went or not.

"Naruto, I don't want you to hang around with him anymore." Sasuke spoke calmly.

Naruto frowned. "What, why not? It's not like he's dangerous or anything." Naruto protested.

"I know that, but I just don't want you to hang around him, that's all, okay?" Sasuke argued back.

Naruto was exasperated. "What's your problem? It's like your jealous or something!" Naruto yelled back. It was very easy to engage in an argument with Naruto, as he was easily fired up.

He expected another argument to be immediately fired back at him, but he was only met with silence. _What the hell? He was supposed to argue back at me, why isn't he saying anything?_ Naruto thought as he looked at the ground. He nervously spoke up again.

"Y-yeah. It _is _like you're jealous! What, do you like me or something?" Naruto asked, wishing he had not asked that.

Sasuke took a deep breath and let the words just flow out of him.

"So what if I do?"

"Huh?" Naruto was surprised and could not find anything else to say.

Sasuke slowly continued on. "So what if I do? I am in fact jealous that you went to the carnival with Neji, and the reason why I am jealous is that I might like you more than a friend. Is there something wrong with that?"

Naruto stammered, shocked, but after a few long seconds of silence, he forced himself to laugh. He placed his hands in front of him.

"Ahaha…Sasuke, you're so funny! You really had me there for a second. But you shouldn't joke about things like that!" Naruto laughed nervously.

"I'm not laughing."

* * *

><p>(1) Can you guys guess who he is? Hint: He was mentioned in the previous chapter<p>

* * *

><p>Well I hope you guys liked it! Did you guys get the ending? Like when Sasuke was like "I'm not laughing" If you didn't, it meant that he wasn't joking.<p>

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I'm starting to think people aren't liking my story anymore! D: You guys are mean, getting my hopes up by suddenly giving me a lot of reviews and then crush them by not writing so much anymore! Waaaaaahhh! Dx

Come on, I want at least 3 reviews. Dx

* * *

><p><strong>Note: <strong>I want to finish this story by the end of summer so chapters are going to be uploading fast, probably in 3-4 day intervals, so be on the lookout and SUBSCRIBE(:

So I'm going to put some of the ideas I have for the next story up on my profile so go check it out! When this story is over, I'm going to have a poll on which story I should write next. "To See Beyond the Red Line" will probably be about 30 chapters long? Maybe less, maybe more.

Well, until the next chapter, bye~


	8. Chapter 8: Visitor

Hey sorry for the late upload! I got sidetracked a bit. ou know, the usual, watching anime and stuff. Whoo Kuroshitsuji is pretty fun :D

Woww I must sound really nerdy or something right now... Oh! And I found the sheet music for Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi ED for piano! (Wakaba - Ashita, Boku was Kimi ni Ai ni Iku) If you want it, give me your email or something and I'll email it to you(:

Well, here's the next chapter, enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I do not own this. All rights to Masashi Kishimoto**

_Warning: Not much_

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><p>"<em>Ahaha…Sasuke, you're so funny! You really had me there for a second. But you shouldn't joke about things like that!" Naruto laughed nervously.<em>

"_I'm not laughing."_

Naruto froze, not knowing what to say. _Was Sasuke serious? Does he really like me?_

"U-um." Naruto started but was interrupted by Sasuke.

"Does it disgust you, me having feelings for you?" Although it was a question, the raven gave Naruto no time to answer.

"If it does, then you can leave."

Naruto stared, eyes wide, not knowing how to answer. So he let his body move on instinct and he fled out the door, running as fast as he could.

"So that's your answer, Naruto." Sasuke spoke apathetically, although his eyes told a different story. He watched that bright blonde hair as it grew smaller and farther as Naruto ran away down the long hallway, until finally, the door closed with a loud slam.

Naruto ran down the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator. He just ran and ran and ran. He was until his lungs felt like they were going to burst and then, he finally made it outside and fell to all fours, breathing hard, trying to catch his breath. After he calmed down, he stood up, not knowing what to do. He just stood there as crowds of people flew by him like a moving picture and he was the only one in pause.

After recollecting himself and thinking about what just happened, his eyes grew even wider. Just _what _did he just do? He literally had nothing except the shelter and food Sasuke provided for him. The raven didn't give him any money or clothes, not even a cell phone to call if he ever got lost. He had nowhere else to go. He couldn't just go back to Sasuke, not after what he did. _Sasuke told me to leave if his feelings disgusted me so I left. Why did I leave? _Naruto thought as he sank to his knees once again. _Why? Why? Why? I'm such an idiot! _Naruto thought angrily with tears of frustration welling up, blurring his vision.

At the very least, Naruto was happy, or rather, excited that Sasuke had feelings for him, but at the same time, more shocked to clearly think out his actions. He just wanted some time alone to collect himself and calm himself down, then he could talk or look at Sasuke again, but what he did, there was no turning back. It would be too selfish to just run out the door, and come back later on acting like nothing happened.

It was getting dark, so he pulled himself up and dragged his feet to no specific place, just somewhere away from this building. He made his way to a nearby park and sat down on a bench and stared at particularly nothing. Then a group of laughing kids ran across him, scattering fallen leaves all around, getting some on Naruto.

The group apologized and Naruto smiled, glad that at least some people were having fun, but as soon as the group of kids were out of his sight, he was back to staring into space.

* * *

><p>"So, do you really think you can do it?"<p>

"Of course I can. Do you think I won't be able to persuade my own son?"

"Of course not, but don't disappoint me. I need that boy."

"When do you want him?"

"Let's see. Let me see him with my own eyes first."

* * *

><p>A particular brunette was feeling rather happy with the outcome of the day. He had the most fun he had in, well, who knows with a person he was very much comfortable with and he had no take home work he had to finish. Now, he could just relax and do whatever the hell he wanted, and what he wanted to do was take a nice, hot, relaxing bath. He had been working himself to the limit this past week and he felt rather strained and tired so a nice bath would do him some good.<p>

He turned the knob, opening the doors to let out a waterfall of hot, gushing water to quickly fill the tub. When the water was filled a bit more than half way, he quickly turned off the water. He placed his hands just slightly into the water to test the temperature and smiled. _Perfect. _He stripped off the remaining clothing he had, with was nothing but a towel hung loosely across his waist and stepped in slowly, relishing at how nice the hot water was to his aching muscles.

He sighed. "This is heaven." But his moment of pure bliss was quickly shattered when a loud ring resonated through the room. The smiled of contentment on his face quickly turned into a frown. He sat there, debating on whether he should pick up the phone or not. In the end, he decided to just ignore it and closed his eyes when his cell phone finally stopped ringing.

But only after a few seconds of silence, the phone rang again, and again, and again. Neji scowled and quickly stood up, breaking the water's surface by a loud splashing noise and he made his way to the stand where his cell phone was laying, droplets of water dripping onto the floor from his skin and hair.

He opened his phone to see just who the hell was ruining his relaxing moment. _Uchiha Sasuke. _Neji frowned. Why would Sasuke call him? But he picked up the phone anyway.

"What?" Neji asked.

"Neji, is Naruto at your house by any chance?" Sasuke asked, his voice with obvious worry. The brunette frowned, wondering what has happened to his blonde friend.

"Why? Did something happen?" He demanded?

"Well, when Naruto came back home, he told me he went to the carnival with you so I-" Sasuke cut himself off and cleared his throat before rephrasing what he wanted to say. "I got mad at him for staying out so late, so he got mad at me back and ran out. It's already pretty dark and he's not back yet so I was worried and was just wondering if you have seen him." Sasuke lied.

Neji smirked. "What are you, his mom?"

Sasuke scowled. "Neji, this is serious. I really can't find Naruto."

All playfulness was immediately wiped away from Neji's face. "I know, I'm sorry. So have you looked around the neighborhood? Maybe even the city?"

"Well I've drove around the block to look for him, but it's too dark now."

Neji's face was tight with worry. "Okay, I'll try to look for him too. I'll call you if I get any news." And with that, he snapped his phone shut, quickly grabbed a towel to dry himself, and ran out the bathroom in search of clothes, all thoughts of relaxing in a nice, hot bath forgotten.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, another brunette was relaxing in a nice, hot bath, sighing with contentment after a long day's work of yelling at lazy authors, editing papers last minute, and trying to work out a deal with the printers. He was in a cloud of bliss when the door opened and his silver hair lover stepped in clad in only a towel around his waist.<p>

"K-Kakashi! What're you doing here, get out!" Iruka yelled, splashing water with his sudden movements to cover himself. The silver haired man chuckled.

"Aw, come on Iru-chan! I've seen you naked plenty of times before! No need to cover yourself." Kakashi teased as he made his way to the tub. He dropped his towel and he stepped in the tub, despite his lover's rather loud and forceful protests. He smiled.

"Are you blushing because of me, or the hot water?" Kakashi asked huskily as he eyed his lover up and down, eyes gleaming as if Iruka was a delicious meal, making the brunette blush even harder.

"Wha- I." He managed to stammer out until his lover placed a hand on his stomach. Kakashi moved his hand up and down, loving how smooth his lover's stomach was. He slowly inched his way up and felt his chest. By then, Iruka was breathing unevenly and his face was a deep crimson.

Kakashi moved his hand to the left, rubbing the soft skin, feeling Iruka's perking nipples beneath his touch. He smiled and with his other hand, moved downwards but just before his hands reached his goal, Iruka's cell phone rang. Kakashi scowled and whipped his head around to glare at the phone, wishing it would just stop ringing.

"Ah! Phone's ringing!" And he quickly accepted the chance to push his lover away, quickly stepping out of the tub.

"Hello?" Iruka answered.

"Iruka! Are you doing anything right now?" Sasuke asked quickly, wishing to waste no unnecessary time.

"No, I'm not. Is anything wrong?" The brunette asked, immediately sensing the worry in Sasuke's voice.

"Well, Naruto ran out the house because I got mad at him for staying with Neji too late and I can't find him. I've already drove around the neighborhood, but it's too dark to see very well now. I've already asked Neji is Naruto was with him but he wasn't, so I asked Neji to help look for Naruto as he said he would, so now I'm asking you." Sasuke explained quickly.

Kakashi watched his lover's face grow tenser and heavier with worry and wondered what was wrong.

"Iruka, what's wro-" He was cut off by Iruka's "mother" voice.

"What do you mean you can't find him? Of course I'll help! And I'll get Kakashi to help to!" Iruka literally yelled into the phone, balancing the phone between his ear and shoulder while he grabbed a towel to pat himself dry.

Kakashi's brow furrowed. "Iruka, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Naruto's gone missing! We have to look for him!" Iruka hollered as he threw his arms in the air. After he was fully dried, he ran out of the bathroom to get dressed, leaving behind a rather surprised Kakashi. He blinked a few times to think over what just happened, realized his lover said Naruto's missing, and he immediately leaped out of the tub to follow his lover.

* * *

><p>After calling all the necessary people Sasuke felt would help in the search for Naruto, he grabbed his coat and set off. He knew he was probably making a big fuss over such a trivial thing but he couldn't help but worry. <em>What if Naruto really doesn't come back?<em>

He shook his head and got into this car, determined to find Naruto. He drove around the block once more to try to see any blonde person under the streetlights. A flash of blonde caught his attention and he stomped on the brakes, making his car screech to a stop. He opened the door.

"Naruto!" He called out expecting to see those bright blue eyes again, but when the boy turned around, it was not him. Yes, his eyes were blue, but they paled when compared to Naruto's ocean eyes. Sasuke stopped himself and frowned, before he hurriedly closed the door and drove off.

* * *

><p>Naruto awoke when he heard the sound of a car tire screeching and jerked awake, trying to remember where he was when he felt the cool breeze of the night.<p>

"Wha-" Naruto said as he stood up, suddenly panicking, thinking he was back on the streets again. He looked around and squinted and immediately put his hands up to shield his light when he was blinded by a bright light. He grunted and when the light suddenly went out, rubbed his eyes before he opened them again.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked on instinct. At the moment, he couldn't exactly see very well since his vision was ruined by random sparks of light, most likely because his eyes was not "ready" for the onslaught of light, and was not just getting accustomed to the dark.

"So you're Uzumaki Naruto." A voice called out to him.

Naruto mumbled, but didn't say anything until he finally made out the two figures standing close to him. He couldn't exactly get a good look at their faces but he stood his ground and glared, not wanting to deal with any random people. What he wanted to do right now was to find his way back to Sasuke's apartment and apologize.

He grunted. "Yeah I am. Who're you guys?"

The taller one chuckled and took a step forward, his face being revealed to Naruto when the light of a passing car flashed on his face. Although Naruto only had a glimpse, he made out the man's pale skin and long black hair. Naruto frowned. He had never seen a man that looked like him before, so he was sure he would never forget his face.

When the other man stepped forward, Naruto suddenly started panicking and took a step back. The pale man spoke with a sickly sweet voice.

"Don't be scared, boy. I wouldn't think of ruining someone with such beauty."

Although it was dark, Naruto could hear the smile in the man's voice and could feel his piercing eyes on him. Naruto gulped and took a few more steps back, trying to get as much distance between him and the two men as possible, but was stopped with the back of his knees met the back on the bench he was sleeping on.

"What are you talking about? Go away." Naruto growled as he raised his eyes to glare at the man. On the inside, Naruto was scared, but that didn't mean he had to let those people know he was scared. When the man took one more step forward, Naruto was trapped. The man and Naruto were literally only inches away and when the man lifted up his hands to grab Naruto's chin, he could do nothing but freeze.

"Don't be so scared. Why don't you come with us?" The pale man cooed as he moved his thumb across Naruto's face, frowning at the whisker like tattoos that he though ruined the blonde's perfect face.

Naruto held his breath and slapped the man's hands away before giving a hard shove which forced the man to back away to keep from falling on his back.

"Why would I go with two creeps I don't even know?" Naruto growled, finally getting his confidence back.

The man smiled and smoothed out his clothes.

"My my, you're a troublesome one, are you, boy? Don't be so rude and come with us. Your mom is waiting for you."

Naruto froze. _Okasan? _ He spoke, his voice shaking. "W-what are you talking about? My _mom's _waiting for me? Yeah right, that woman threw me out. Don't think I'll just go crawling back when she wants me back." Naruto spoke with anger, although his heart was aching at the words that came so naturally out of his mouth. He really did love his mom.

In his anger, he did not notice the third figure that stepped out of the car and was now currently make their way towards the three. The figure finally made her way to Naruto.

"Naruto, come back home." The woman spoke softly, voice dripping with longing.

Naruto's eyes widened. That voice, he could never forget it.

"O-Okasan?" Naruto asked. He took a step forward to confirm what he thought and he was indeed true. There was Kushina, right there, in front of him. Her long, red hair flowing behind her.

She ran forwards and hugged Naruto rightly. "Naruto! Oh! I'm so glad you're safe! I'm so sorry, Naruto! I just lost my temper, I'm so, so sorry. You know how much I loved your Otousan, right? I'm sorry! Naruto, I want you back. Come home, ne? You'll come home right? I don't know what I was thinking when I threw you out! I don't care if you're gay, so come back, ne?" Kushina sobbed into Naruto's shoulders, although her tears were, of course, fake.

Naruto put a hand around his mom. "I-I, okasan, I-" Kushina smiled in Naruto's shoulders, knowing she chose her words perfectly, but when Naruto pushed her away, she was shocked. When she looked up, she was surprised to see all the mixed emotions written on Naruto's face. Fear, confusion, sadness, and anger. Yes, there was anger in his eyes. He was shaking to control himself. Yes he loved his mom, but he wouldn't go back to that house. He still could not rid himself of the anger he felt at the words his mom said the day she threw him out.

"Sorry, let me think about it." Naruto spoke quietly.

Kushina's eyes widened. "But-I- Naruto!"

The pale man chuckled. "Kushina, how disappointing."

The red head stepped forward and grabbed Naruto's hands.

"Please come home, Naruto. Come back to me." She begged, throwing away al her dignity. After all, her precious reward was at stake. Naruto stared. Did his mom really wanted him back? He didn't know what to say so he just backed away some more, realizing he had taken a few steps forward in his rage.

The two men stepped forward. "Boy, listen to your mo-." The man was interrupted when a sudden hand pulled Naruto back and quickly placed Naruto behind the figure.

"I'm sorry, but I'll be taking him." Neji growled. _So these are the people that kidnapped Naruto?_ Then Neji frowned, realizing he was making conclusions too fast, which was unlike him.

Naruto smiled in relief when he saw that familiar long, brown hair. "Neji!" Naruto yelled in relief, although he was disappointed that it wasn't Sasuke who saved him. Neji quickly dragged Naruto away from the group and into his car.

"Are you okay?" Neji asked as he quickly started his car and started driving.

"Y-yeah. I'm just a little hungry." Naruto chuckled, rubbing his stomach. Neji sighed. Although he had only spent time with the blonde for one day, he knew that the blonde must have wanted to make light of this situation and decided to play along.

"Really? Then I'll make you something at my house." He chuckled, but after a few seconds, decided to get serious.

"So, Sasuke told me you guys had a fight, and you ran out the door."

Naruto nodded, not wanting to meet the brunette's eyes.

Neji continued. "What were you guys fighting over anyway?"

Naruto stammered. "Er- well, you see- I."

Neji chuckled and waved his hand. "if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. Well, now that I found you, I should probably call Sasuke and tell him you're safe." Neji spoke as he pulled out his phone.

Naruto's head snapped up. "Eh? Call Sasuke? What for?" Naruto asked.

"He was really worried about you, you know. He actually called _me _to help look for yo- Ah, Sasuke?" Neji stopped explaining to Naruto when Sasuke picked up the phone.

"_Did you find him?"_

Neji smiled. "Yeah, don't worry. He said he was hungry so I'm going to bring him to my house to get him some food."

There was silence at the other line, until Sasuke finally spoke up.

"_Okay, I'll meet you there."_

And he hung up the phone and Neji closed his phone.

"Sasuke's going to meet us at my house, okay?"

Naruto started looking around nervously, wondering just how mad Sasuke would be.

Neji noticed the blonde's nervousness and laughed. "What are you looking so nervous for? I don't know what you guys fought about, but I'm pretty sure Sasuke isn't mad at you anymore. I mean, he was really worried you know. Never seen him like this. Anyhow, I should probably get you back to him."

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><p>The three figures stood blankly when they just realized their <em>prize <em>was snatched away by a random intruder. The pale man spoke up.

"That…was Hyuga Neji."

His partner confirmed it was a nod and a brief explanation.

"Yes, he is next in line for the Hyuga company made by his father. He is to share ownership with his cousin, but the name of his cousin has not been made public yet."

"Ohhh? That boy has made some _interesting _connections ever since you kicked him out. There's even a rumor that he attended a party with an Uchiha, Uchiha Sasuke, to be exact. Isn't that right, Kabuto?"

The silver haired man nodded. "Kushina, do you really think you can get persuade him now? If you can't, we can always find a replacement for you."

The red head lunged forward. "No! I can do it." She then looked at the pale man. "Didn't I tell you not to doubt me, Orochimaru?"

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><p>When they reached, Neji's <em>house <em>Naruto was amazed. He wouldn't even call it a house, he would call it a mansions! It was huge, and protected by a large gate. The gates opened with literally no sound at all when Neji pressed some buttons on his phone and he slowly drove in.

When they reached the front of the house, they both stepped out of the car. Neji walked up a few stairs to open the door, but realized Naruto was not following him. Instead, the blonde was gazing adoringly at the large house that stood in front of him

"S-so big."

Neji chuckled. "Naruto, let's go in."

Naruto snapped out of his daze and nodded, as Neji opened the front door. Naruto was expecting bright lights coming from a glass chandelier, a line of maids that welcomed Neji home, and maybe even a butler to offer to take their coats or something, but when the door opened, the house was dark.

"Sorry, I think she's already sleeping." Neji said as he reached over to turn on the lights. In an instant, the dark, gloomy hallway was brightened by millions of bright lights.

"Eh? You have a pet or something?" Naruto asked, not getting who "she" was.

Neji frowned. "Excuse me?" He had no idea where the blonde got these random questions from.

Naruto shook his head."Ahh! Never mind."

Neji nodded and lead Naruto to the kitchen, which was quite a walk to get to. When they got in, Naruto was marveled by how nicely decorated the kitchen was, and they had high class kitchen tools. Naruto immediately ran in front of the stove and drawers, inspecting everything.

Naruto oohed and ahhed at everything he found. "Wow you have like everything here!"

Neji smiled. "Well, my cousin does like to cook."

Naruto froze. "Cousin? Is that who 'she' is?" Naruto asked.

Neji nodded as he made his way to the refrigerator. "I only have leftovers, is that okay?" Neji asked.

Naruto nodded, fine with anything, as long as it was food. He plopped himself down on a nearby chair.

"Man, I am soooo hungry!" Naruto wailed. Then, a petite girl with long blue hair stepped in, wearing a comfortable looking, white dress, most likely for pajamas, rubbing her pale eyes.

"Neji, you're back. Do you want me to heat anything up for you?" She asked. It was obvious that she was sleeping and was still very tired, having just woken up only after an hour's or so worth of sleep.

The brunette shook his head. "No I can do it." He turned to Naruto. "This is Hinata, my cousin. We both live in this house."

Naruto blinked a few times. _She's pretty. _"Oh! Hi I'm Naruto!" He grinned and jumped off his chair and made his way to the sleepy girl, surprising her when he jumped in front of her face. She blinked a few times, meeting a pair of bright, blue eyes, and yelped pushing Naruto back, rather hard as she jumped back, while Naruto fell on the ground.

"Don't get so close to me." She stammered out as she placed her hands in front of her mouth. "You surprised me."

Naruto stayed on the floor, twitching. "Y-you're pretty strong."

The girl blushed and frantically apologized when the sudden ding of the microwave popped the boy up.

"It's done, right?" He opened the microwave door and grabbed the plate, just as both Hyugas warned him that the plate was really hot. He screamed as the plate burned his fingers and threw it in the air slightly, to try to balance the plate on his fingers while he made it to the table. He finally placed the hot plate on the table before looking for something cold. When he found a sink, he smiled and quickly turned the left knob, since it had a blue ring around it, Naruto assumed it was cold water.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, the knobs for that sink got switched on accident when we were getting it repaired so blue means-"

"HOT!" Naruto screamed out as he quickly withdrew his from the burning waterfall. He literally had tears in his eyes as he tried to find anything that would relieve his hands from the burning feeling when the doorbell rang.

The three stared at the door, wondering just who would visit so late at night, until Neji suddenly remembered that Sasuke was going to meet the two there. He quickly made his way towards the door and opened it.

"Sasuke. Naruto's in the kitchen."

The raven only gave a grunt of response before pushing the brunette out of the way and rapidly walking towards the kitchen. When he saw Naruto sitting on a table eating his food, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly made his way to the table.

"Naruto!"

The blonde jerked when he heard his name being called out so loud and the he dropped his fork.

"S-Sasuke!" Naruto gasped when the raven suddenly pulled him in a tight embrace. After a few seconds, the raven pulled away and looked straight into Naruto's eyes.

"Damn it, Naruto. Do you know how worried I was? Where did you go anyways?" Sasuke demanded, sounding just like a mom.

Naruto broke out in a huge smile. _So, Sasuke was worried about me after all! _

"Ahh well you see, I went to the park to just think a little but I guess I fell asleep. I woke up and there were these two creeps asking me to go with them." Naruto explained, shuddering at the remembrance of that man's voice. He did not see how narrow Sasuke's eyes became and continued. "And then, out of nowhere, my mom pops up, asking me to come back home with her! Can you believe her? After saying all those things to me!" Naruto pouted as he went back to eating his food.

Sasuke's eyes were now, only narrow slits and he growled. "Your mom?"

Naruto looked up with food in his mouth. "Mmhmm." He answered with a full mouth. Sasuke scowled and grabbed Naruto.

"We're leaving." Sasuke managed to say as he stormed out of the house, dragging a surprised Naruto, who still had a fork in his hand.

Hinata stepped forward to ask Naruto for their fork back while Neji just smiled. _Just what do you mean to Sasuke, Naruto?_

Naruto thrown into the car, like the many times before and Sasuke stepped in, slammed the door shut and drove off.

After calming himself down, and chewing the rest of the food in his mouth he looked at Sasuke, but just couldn't be mad at the raven, so he just pretended.

"H-hey Sasuke! How am I supposed to get this fork back to them?" Naruto complained.

All tensions and feelings of anger left his body, just like that. He chuckled. "Why don't you keep it? It's a nice fork." Sasuke joked.

Naruto sighed a breath of relief, glad that Sasuke wasn't mad at him and grinned, staring straight ahead at the road. Sasuke looked to his side.

"Naruto, what's with that stupid grin on your face?"

"Nothing." Naruto sang out, as he started to hum a random melody. The rest of the car ride silent, with only Naruto's voice to fill the air. When the two reached the apartment, Sasuke opened the door and stepped in, taking off his shoes, letting Naruto do the same. The blonde grin grew wider as he ran and threw himself on the sofa, face down.

"Home sweet home!" He laughed as he buried his face into the fluffy pillows. Sasuke smiled and spoke without realizing.

"Naruto, do you really mean that?"

Naruto froze and turned his head to look at Sasuke.

"What do you mean?"

Sasuke froze. Did he just say that out loud? Well, then there's no turning back, might as well confirm it.

"Well, when you said your mom asked you to come back, I was worried that you would actually go back with your mom. That was why I dragged you out of Neji's house. So I'm just asking you if you would really just leave here if your mom asked you to?"

Naruto frowned, thinking, but smiled again. "Well, she asked me today and I'm still here aren't I?" Trying his best to avoid giving a direct answer.

Sasuke frowned, just a bit at the lack of security in that answer but decided to drop it.

"Well, it's pretty late and you must be tired, so go get some sleep. I'm going to take a shower." Sasuke said as he went in the bathroom.

When he was done, he came back out after toweling his hair dry and stopped when he reached the living room. There, Naruto was sleeping on the couch with a soft smile on his face. Sasuke shook his head.

"You'll catch a cold if you sleep here." Sasuke said as he bent down to pick up Naruto, glad that the blonde had gained a few pounds and was not so scrawny anymore. He carried the blonde to his bedroom. When he reached the bed, he did his best to place the blonde on the bed and carefully pull the blanket from underneath him. He lifted the blanket on top of Naruto so that the blonde wouldn't catch a cold and smiled.

He looked so peaceful. Sasuke started at the blonde's chest, moving up and down, and moved up to stare at the blonde's lips. His body moved in automatically and his thumb traced the blonde's bottom lip as he leaned in and placed a quick, chaste kiss on the blonde's lips before pulling away and falling asleep on the other side of the bed. Too quickly to see Naruto slowly open his eyes, and smile.

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><p>Well, how'd you like it? A lot happens in this chapter, right? I was actually going to have Naruto "disappear" in this chapter but I realized their relationship isn't good enough yet. Haha...<p>

Oh, and I'm not going to make Hinata all shy and stuff in this story. She's just going to be a little clumsy and quiet I guess. And I know I made Kushina seem like a real bitch in this story. Sorryyy..

Thank you for all the reviews! Keep them coming please!

I'm going camping this Fourth of July with my family so I might not have a story up till Tuesday. BUT, I might start writing the next chapter tomorrow, and if I finish, I'll post it on Saturday, but no promises.

Well, until the next chapter, bye~


	9. Chapter 9: Hiatus

Hi everyone! Sorry to disappoint but this is not the next chapter. I'm sooooo sorry guys! D: I'll tell you why this isn't a new chapter.

As you all know, I went camping for this Fourth of July. Well two bad things happened there. First, I got my period. It was a week early, so I was pretty mad. Second thing was…I broke my arm. We were climbing some big rocks and I slipped and fell so yea, I broke my arm. T.T

It was my left one so I can still write and stuff, but I want my arm to heal properly so I'm going on break/hiatus until my arm heals. I'm soooo sorry guys. I had the next chapter about half way done before the camping trip and I just don't want to put an incomplete chapter up. I'm probably overreacting but this is the FIRST TIME I broke a bone so I'm like freaking out right now because everyone was like "Oh make sure it heals properly so you don't have a weird arm!" And things like that.

If you guys want to know what happens in the next chapter or want spoilers for my story, then you can PM me and I'll give you a short reply on what I was planning for this story. But please don't steal my ideas D:

Okay this took a while to type up because I was only using my right arm. So maybe I might TRY to finish the chapter using only one arm but no promises. And it will probably take a very, very, long time. When I get the next chapter up, I'll delete this chapter, okay?

Well, until my arm heals (or the next chapter), bye~

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><p><strong>Edited Note: I started writing again so just forget this message and head on over to the next chapter!<strong>


	10. Chapter 10: Picnic

Hey everyone! I'm baaaack! Well my arm's not completely healed but you know..it's been almost a month and I think it's okay for me to start typing and such now. I hope I didn't lose too many of you. I tried to make this chapter longer that my usual and it did end up being my longest chapter but only by like...1000 words and I wanted to make it like REALLY LONG but it just didn't happen...

I'm like in loooove with this song (Perfect by Pink)! At first, i didn't like it but I saw a Kuroshitsuji AMV called "To Sebastian, Ciel is Perfect" and ever since, I fell in loooove with the song. But I like the clean version better. Psh why am I ranting on Kuroshtisuji and not Naruto? Hehe sorry..SebaCiel is like my new "thing" now I guess. But a lot of people don't like that couple Dx

**Oh! I'm doing this collab with YoruNi So if any of you are Kuroshitsuji Sebasitan x Ciel fans, go read our collab! It's called "Even the Moon Laughs Once in a While" and it's on YoruNi's account so go reaad it and support us! (There's a "dot" between the Yoru and the Ni but if I put her account name, it gets deleted! D:**

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! And I decided to just leave the hiatus author's note chapter on..hehe..

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All chracters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

_Warnings: Not much but slight lemon at the beginning. And I warn you, it's not very good and it's not even long. It was my first one so sorry!_

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><p>Naruto's eyes slowly opened as he tried to adjust his eyes to the blinding rays of sunlight peeking through the curtains, hitting him straight in the face. He grumbled and tried to turn around and move away from the light when he found he couldn't move. He panicked, struggling against whatever was latching on to him, when he felt a hot breath cascade down his neck.<p>

"Naruto, are you awake now?" Sasuke whispered huskily into Naruto's ears, before flicking out his tongue to lick the earlobe before quickly withdrawing.

Naruto froze. _What the HELL was that? _He realized the reason he couldn't move was because Sasuke had his arms and legs draped over him. Naruto struggled, not knowing what was happening.

"U-u-um Sasuke? W-what are you doing?" Naruto frantically asked. The raven only chuckled before sliding his hands up Naruto's thigh.

"Your skin is so soft, Naruto."

Now Naruto was freaked out. "S-Sasuke!"

Naruto yelped when he felt Sasuke's hand suddenly slip under his pants and grab his now hardening length.

"Ah! Sasuke where are you-" Naruto yelped, intent on fighting back, but Sasuke just wouldn't let up. If anything, Naruto's struggles only made Sasuke's movements faster. Naruto grabbed on to the blankets near him and stifled a moan when Sasuke ran his thumb over the head of the blonde's length, smearing precum around the tip.

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm.

"Ah…s-stop. Sasuke…Stop." Naruto managed out.

Sasuke licked Naruto's ear. "Well if you really want me to stop, fight a little harder."

"Mmm I-I can't. S-Sasuke stop! I-I'm-"

"AHHHH!" Naruto jolted awake, sitting in an upright, rigid position. _What was that? _Naruto gasped as he tried to catch his breath. Did he just have a wet dream…with _Sasuke? _His eyes widened as he frantically looked to the side, wondering if he woke Sasuke but realized the raven was not there.

Sighing in relief, he ripped the blankets from his body to stare at his indeed hard on. Naruto frowned. There was even a small dark spot to prove the state of his arousal. He was about to make a mad dash to the bathroom when the door slammed open.

"AHH!" Naruto yelled while he quickly grabbed a pillow to cover himself. "I-Iruka! What are you doing here?"

Iruka made his was in the room with Kakashi and Sasuke following behind. Kakashi waved hello as Iruka explained, "Well we heard you scream while we were discussing something so we rushed up to see if you were all right. It seems it was just a bad dream." Iruka trailed off, while the three eyed the pillow suspiciously.

Sasuke cleared his throat. "So what are you doing there with that pillow?"

Naruto laughed nervously. "Ahahaha, what pillow?" The blonde tried to look at Sasuke in the eyes, but immediately lowered them to the ground, a faint blush crawling up his cheeks as he remembered his dream. He was too focused on trying to force his blush down that he didn't realize Kakashi was walking towards the bed.

Kakashi grabbed the pillow and pulled it up.

"This pillow." Kakashi's eyes turned into upside down u's as he swung the pillow in front of Naruto's face. All three pairs of eyes stared at Naruto's obvious hard on while the blonde stared at the pillow, his mind not quite registering what had just happened. After a few moments, Naruto yelped and immediately tried to cover himself with whatever he could find, which was the blanket he threw off before.

Kakashi chuckled and dropped the pillow. Naruto's eyes lowered to the bed as he hung his head low in embarrassment and shame. Then, as if nothing out of the norm happened, Sasuke shrugged, as did Iruka and Kakashi.

"That was it?" was all Sasuke said before he made his way outside along with Iruka.

"I was worried for nothing." Iruka laughed weakly while he beckoned for Kakashi to follow him. The man patted Naruto on the head and chuckled. "Don't worry. It happens to everyone. Well you should hurry and get up. Iruka's planning for the four of us to do something fun today." There was a slight sexual innuendo in the sentence so Kakashi decided to have some fun and waggled his eyebrows.

Naruto gaped while Kakashi chuckled and made his way to the door. "I was just kidding." And with that, he left the room, leaving Naruto to ponder on what Iruka had in store. He jumped out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom. He debated on whether to just take a cold shower or take care of his problem manually.

Naruto shook his head at the thought, surprised that he would even consider doing the latter and jumped in the stall, immediately reaching to turn on the water. He winced slightly as the icy needles pelted his skin but decided to just bear with it. He stood in the shower of water until he started shivering and quickly grabbed the shampoo bottle to finish his shower. When he was done, he scrambled to turn off the water and jumped out of the stall, reaching for a towel.

He patted himself dry, relishing at how warm the towel felt on his skin. Maybe he had overreacted too much when taking the cold shower. He shrugged, dressed up and stepped out of the bathroom with a towel on his head.

He walked down the stairs to where all the ruckus was coming from. He stepped in the kitchen, surprised to see all three men in aprons, and ingredients scattered all across the kitchen. Sasuke was cutting vegetables and fruits, Kakashi was frying what looked like sausages, and Iruka was hand molding onigiri. Iruka waved Naruto over.

"Ah, Naruto! Come help me make onigiri!" He chirped happily. Naruto nodded, glad to be of some help and walked to where Iruka was. The brunette showed Naruto how to make the onigiri, being very careful with the instructions.

"First, make sure you slightly wet your hands with salt water. Then grab a ball of rice and mold it into a triangular shape. You can roll it in katsuboshi, stuff it with anything you want, or just wrap it in nori only. But make sure you wrap everything with nori. Oh! And make sure you mold it tight so it won't break apart."(1) Iruka explained each step while showing Naruto what to do. Naruto nodded, thinking it was fairly easy. While making his third one, a sudden question popped in his head.

"Oh, wait. Why are we making all this food?" Naruto asked, curious.

Iruka smiled. "The four of us are going on a picnic!" Naruto smiled, excited. He hasn't been on a picnic for a while now and he was always a fan of picnic food. When the two were done making the onigiri, Iruka told Naruto to help Sasuke with the vegetables. Naruto was about to complain but realized Iruka was already gone to help Kakashi with the frying.

He huffed and made his way to where Sasuke was. He peeked from behind Sasuke's shoulder. He watched as Sasuke made two diagonal slices on the skin of a slice of apple and cut off the middle of the lines, making the two pieces of skin stand up like bunny ears.

"So, what are you making?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke slightly jolted. He was too focused on what he was doing to notice Naruto behind him. Sasuke merely explained that he was making things for a bento box and asked Naruto to bring the pumpkin pieces from Kakashi. But before Naruto could even turn around, he heard Iruka wail.

"Kakashi! You boiled the pumpkins for too long! They're too soft now! And make sure you're watching the sausages. You have to take them out once the legs start spreading!" (2) Kakashi was overwhelmed with all the things he had to do. He was never good at cooking since Iruka did most of the cooking at the house and could not tell whether the food was ready or not. Iruka lightly slapped Kakashi on the head.

"Focus! Just drain the pumpkins and we'll see what we can make with them. And take those sausages out, they're ready!" Iruka ordered as Kakashi hurriedly tried to keep up with his lover's orders. He drained the pumpkins and placed the sausages on kitchen towels, sighing in relief when the tasks were done.

Naruto took the small moment of silence to ask Iruka about the pumpkins.

"Um so…can I have the pumpkins?"

Iruka quickly turned around and slightly pouted. "I don't think we can use them anymore. They're too soft."

"Well, what were you going to do with them?"

"We were going to cover them with honey and sprinkle them with black sesame seeds."

Naruto thought for a while. He was always good with cooking emergencies.

"Hmm…Well we can just mash the pumpkins and mix them with honey and black sesame seeds." Naruto suggested. Iruka beamed at the suggestion.

"That's a great idea! Kakashi! Can you mash up the pumpkins?"

The man stifled a groan as he grudgingly walked to where the pumpkins were placed. But before he could start mashing them, Naruto intervened.

"I can mash them for you!" He happily declared as he gently nudged Kakashi out of the way. The man smiled a grateful smile at the blonde and ran out of the kitchen before Iruka made him do something else. Cooking was just not his thing.

Naruto gently moved the pumpkin to a bowl and looked for anything to mash them with. When he couldn't find anything, he opted for a big fork he found and started mashing them. It was very easy since the pumpkins were already pretty soft. When he felt they were mashed enough, he brought the bowl to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, I brought the pumpkins!"

The raven eyes the bowl with a slight frown. "What happened to the pumpkins?"

Naruto explained what happened on the other side of the kitchen, noticing the slight annoyed hint on Sasuke's face. Naruto gulped. Did he do something wrong? He quickly waved his hands.

"Well it's okay! We can just mix the pumpkins with the honey and stuff and make it like mash potatoes! Except that it's sweet and it's made out of pumpkins." He trailed off while Sasuke chuckled. He tossed a bottle of honey to the blonde and started working on his own foods.

Naruto drizzled a generous amount of honey onto the pumpkin before he started mixing, finding it harder to mix now that the sticky honey was in the mixture. He frowned and his brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to mix the honey into the pumpkin. Perhaps he had put in a little bit too much.

After a few minutes, the fork was now completely stuck in the mixture! Naruto sighed in exasperation as he tried to pull the fork out. He pulled and tugged with all his strength until the fork came out, missing Sasuke by a mere inch. And that was only because Sasuke leaned backwards to look at his handiwork.

The raven was quite surprised to see a fork whizzing past him and immediately whipped his head to where the fork came from. His eyes met the eyes of a sheepish looking blonde rubbing the back of his head. Naruto chuckled weakly.

"Hehe…Sorry." He quickly apologized. Sasuke chuckled and quietly called Naruto an idiot before going back to his work. The slight insult was not left unheard by the blonde's ears and as Naruto went to grab a new fork, he bumped his hips none too lightly on Sasuke's, causing the raven to lurch to the right. Sasuke grabbed onto the table to catch his balance and blinked a few times. He heard Naruto laughing and he shook his head, but couldn't help but chuckle himself.

The bond between the two had strengthened immensely since the incident Naruto had with his mother. Sasuke was now strangely protective of Naruto, to the slight annoyance of the blonde. Sasuke didn't let Naruto go outside when it's dark, and he tried to come home quickly from work so that Naruto wasn't home alone for too long. He had even asked Neji to "baby-sit" Naruto when he had to go to a press conference that lasted almost the entire day. Well not necessarily, but Sasuke was stuck at his hotel answering questions and interviews.

Needless to say, the two were much closer than before. They had even had their share of a few _accidental _kisses and Naruto had also even been bold enough to _trip _on his way out of the showers and coincidently _fall _on Sasuke. They were like two high schoolers flirting now and then with each other only to later deny that fact. But before we get too off topic, Naruto had now made his way back to the table with a brand new fork. He had gotten a hang of mixing the pumpkins and honey together and was soon finished. He sprinkled on some black sesame and grinned proudly at the bowl.

Soon enough, they were done preparing all the foods and the picnic baskets and bento boxes (3) were neatly packed and ready to be eaten. Now all they had to do was pack the blankets and head off to their destination. Iruka was holding the picnic boxes, Kakashi was holding the umbrellas, and Naruto and Sasuke were holding the blankets. They quickly loaded the car with the items and drove off.

The whole ride was filled with Naruto's complaints of hunger, since he didn't eat breakfast, Sasuke's teasing, and Kakashi's and Iruka's laughter. After about half an hour of driving, they finally reached their destinations. It was a large, wide field with cherry blossom trees sprouting in random places, creating a cool place to sit down.

Naruto had noticed that a few other families were also there for picnics too. He ran with the blankets in his arms to a nearby tree and sat down. "Let's eat here!"

The other three walked to where the eager blonde was waiting and sat the food down. The four managed to get the blankets spread out and secured with nearby rocks. They didn't set the umbrellas because they simply were not needed. The tree already provided enough shade.

Iruka placed the picnic baskets in the middle of the blankets as the three others gathered around in a circle. The brunette opened the baskets to reveal four, beautifully made bento boxes and handed one out to everyone. Naruto eagerly took his and opened it, marveling at how colorful the meal was.

The four held up their chopsticks and yelled at the same time, drawing attention to them. "Itadakimasu!"

Even Sasuke joined in too, of course he didn't yell as loud as the others and his chopsticks weren't as high but it was the least, and the most he would do. Naruto dug into his lunch, relishing at the taste of each food and was surprised that each tasted different and unique. Sasuke ate quietly as usual, and Iruka and Kakashi flirted and fed each other through giggles and laughter. Naruto made a queasy face and stuck his tongue out at the couple.

"Ahem. Go do that somewhere else please!" Naruto teased. Kakashi's chopsticks were about half way to Iruka's mouth, but after that comment, the brunette flushed and pushed the chopsticks away. Kakashi sulked but chose to eat the rest of his meal without any teasing remarks.

Naruto happily went back to eating his meal while Sasuke watched the scene quietly, an amused look in his eyes. Naruto was no doubt the first one to finish. When he was done, he licked his lips and laid down, rubbing his stomach.

"Man, I am so full!" He complained loudly while Sasuke chuckled.

"Weren't you just complaining at how hungry you were at the car?"

"Well yeah but…" Naruto pouted, not knowing what to say in his defense. Sasuke just waved him off and continued eating his meal, joining in on Iruka and Kakashi's conversation every now and then.

Naruto tuned their voices out as he stared at the sky. _This is nice. _It was a fairly warm day, not too cold, not too hot, with a slight breeze to fill the air. The sun was shining, accompanied by a few clouds flying freely as the breeze pushed them along. Naruto smiled and stared at the clouds, imagining one to be a turtle, while the other was a rabbit. He giggled when he remembered the story "The Tortoise and the Hare" and pretended the two clouds were racing each other.

The "turtle" and the "rabbit" were actually moving at the same speed, but since the "turtle" started behind the "rabbit", the "rabbit" won the race. Naruto frowned and started talking to himself. "But the turtle was supposed to win."

Sasuke rose an eyebrow as he glanced at the blonde lying down on the ground.

"Did you say something?" Sasuke asked, jolting Naruto from his dream like trance.

"What?" He asked, dumfounded. Sasuke frowned and shook his head, dismissing the question. After a few more minutes of cloud watching, Naruto sat back up, realizing it was far too quiet. He looked around to find that Iruka and Kakashi were gone.

"Where are Iruka and Kakashi?" He asked, curious.

Sasuke simply shrugged before leaning against the tree. "They went to the river close to here."

Naruto jumped up. "A river?" Sasuke looked up and Naruto and nodded.

"Where?" Naruto asked excitedly. Sasuke sighed and was about to tell Naruto where the river was, but decided to tease the blonde a little.

"Nearby." Was Sasuke's one word answer before he went back to watching the cherry blossom petals fall gently on the ground. He even went so far as to try and catch one of the petals to show Naruto how "intrigued" he was with watching petals fall.

Naruto deflated. "Oh come on! Tell me where it is!" He pouted, hands thrown in the air.

Sasuke shrugged and continued to ignore the blonde. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, pretending to fall asleep. Naruto gaped, exasperated.

"You know what, forget you!" Naruto was about to go looking for the river himself, but thought twice since he didn't want to get lost. He sighed and decided to just climb the tree and have his own fun. He grabbed on to a low branch and used it to haul himself up, shaking the tree and making showers of petals come crashing down on Sasuke.

The raven sputtered, not expecting the sudden downfall of petals. He was covered in them and he stood to brush them off. When he deemed he was clean enough, he looked up, seeing Naruto climbing the tree, higher, and higher.

"Hey Naruto! Don't climb so high! I'm not going to help you if you get stuck!" Sasuke called out. Naruto stopped after hearing Sasuke's voice and stuck his tongue out.

"I won't get stuck!" Naruto scoffed, but decided to stop going higher and sat down on a thick branch. He rested his back against the bark of the tree and slumped down, his legs swinging loosely at the side of the branch. He watched a couple of children chase each other in circles while their parents laughed and told them to be careful. His eyes wandered to the side, caching a couple on the ground apparently sleeping, or looking at the clouds. Then, his eyes traveled down to where Sasuke was lying down with his eyes closed. Naruto leaned forward, making sure to have a good grip on the tree so he wouldn't fall.

Sasuke was indeed sleeping. Naruto could tell because when he dropped a few petals on Sasuke's head, he didn't move to brush them off. Naruto giggled, a plan forming inside his head. He quickly grabbed a bunch of petals and threw them on Sasuke. He kept doing this until Sasuke was almost completely covered with the petals. He had to stop for a few minutes because his arm started to hurt but he was able to get the job done.

He smiled at his "art" and he giggled at how funny Sasuke looked buried in pink petals. Naruto leaned forward to get a closer look, when a sudden gust of wind blew, scattering the petals on Sasuke to the rest of the ground.

Naruto yelped in surprise. "W-what, nooo." Naruto complained as all his hard work was now gone, just by a simple gust of wind. Suddenly, his hand slipped and Naruto frantically tried to grab onto something that would keep him from falling. His hands reached out on a thick branch and the blonde steadied himself, breathing a sigh of relief. The sigh turned into a loud yelp when a loud voice startled Naruto.

"Oh my god! Is that Uchiha Sasuke!"

"AHH!" Naruto yelped as his balance slipped and he fell, right on Sasuke. Sasuke jolted awake when he felt a sudden weight on him. He blinked a few times, only to find a pair of bright blue eyes staring back at him.

"N-Naruto!" Sasuke grunted as he pushed the blonde off of him. "What are you doing?"

Naruto pulled himself up, dusting his shirt. "Sorry. I slipped and fell and landed on you." He suddenly grinned. "But it's okay! You blocked most of my fall!"

Sasuke grumbled as he pulled himself up, suddenly aware of a pain on his rib throbbing. Suddenly, a girl ran up to him and pushed Naruto out of the way, earning a yelp of surprise from the blonde.

"Oh my god! You're Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke frowned and mentally groaned. He really didn't want to deal with this now. All he wanted was a nice, peaceful day. He answered calmly, trying to keep his frown from turning into a deep scowl.

"Yes I am." He gave a short answer, hoping to drive the girl away. At the same time, Naruto was crawling into a sitting position and watched the interaction between the two. It was obvious that Sasuke did not want to talk to the girl right now.

The girl giggled and placed a hand on the raven's shoulders. "Well don't you want to know who I am?" It was all Sasuke could do to not slap the hand away. It was obvious the girl was trying to lead him on and he was just not interested, nor will he ever be.

Sasuke cleared his throat, trying to keep a calm composure as he lightly brushed the hand away. He was about to resort to being rude, but he remembered Iruka reprimanding him for being so mean to his fans, saying that it was bad for his name. Sasuke stared at the girl. Was she someone famous? Did they ever meet somewhere? Sasuke racked his memories when a sudden flashback from the day he and Naruto went to the amusement park raced through his brain. _Oh yeah. She was one of the girls back at amusement park and the end of the boat ride._

Sasuke frowned. He knew the girl looked familiar. And this time, she was wearing even more revealing clothes than last time! She wore tight, skimpy shorts that nearly showed her buttocks when she bent down, and a just as tight shirt that revealed her stomach.

Naruto stayed still, eyeing the girl with distaste as he tried to keep the ugly head of jealousy from rearing. He breathed in and out a few times, but decided to let Sasuke handle this one.

"I remember you. You were with that group of girls back at the amusement park." Sasuke answered slowly. Naruto's head jerked up. _What group of girls? _

"Oh so you remember me?" The girl smiled a sugar coated smile.

Sasuke pressed his lips in a tight line. "Yes I do, and I believe you remember what I said before walking away from your group of girls, yes?"

"_Please go away. I'm trying to look for my boyfriend and you three following me aren't helping." Sasuke growled at the shocked females' faces._

The girl's smile broke a bit before turning into a seductive curve. "Yeah I do. But I don't think your _boyfriend _is around right now. Why don't we have a little bit of fun?"

Naruto gaped. Was that _slut _serious? Was she really just going to try to lead Sasuke on that way in the middle of a freakin' field? There were people here! And not just people, children! Naruto was about to intervene when Sasuke chuckled.

"I'm sorry, but I would rather not converse myself with a girl that would bed a random stranger, typically a slut" He shrugged. "And if you couldn't tell, my boyfriend is sitting right there." Sasuke gestured to a rather surprised Naruto.

"What!" Both the girl and Naruto squeaked.

Sasuke chuckled before walking past the girl and snaking his arm around Naruto's waist. The blonde jolted from the touch, suddenly remembering his dream from the night before and blushed a bright scarlet.

The girl started playing with her hands and biting her lips. "W-well, are you two-" She immediately stopped talking after receiving a glare from Sasuke, but soon gained her confidence. "Are you two really boyfriends? There's a rumor that you're just using him to keep your female fans away from you."

Sasuke growled as Naruto frowned. The girl batted her eyelashes sweetly. "I can offer more than him. And when word gets out that you're with me, all the girls would be too scared to even approach you. I'm a better choice than him. If you're with me, you don't have to pretend to be gay-"

Sasuke's laughter cut her off. "You think I'm pretending? I've never heard a more desperate conclusion in my life." He said coldly, watching the girl deflate. "And you think I actually _want _to be with you? Don't get so cocky." Sasuke finished coldly as he gave the girl a glare, almost daring her to try to convince him again.

The girl faltered but continued nonetheless. "Well if you really are boyfriends, then prove it."

Naruto simply watched the girl with a calm face. This girt had determination, he'd give her that.

Sasuke stared at the girl, patience wearing thin. "Really? Was that kiss on TV a while back not enough for you?"

The girl frowned. "What kiss?" She eyed the blonde that suddenly grew ten shades darker and scowled.

"Don't tell me you actually kissed him! He's not even good looking!"

Sasuke felt Naruto stiffen at the insult and lashed out.

"Listen you slut. I've been trying to play nice with you but you're pushing the limits. Why don't you go back to your little strip club and try to get guys that are actually interested in you."

"I don't work at a strip-"

"Well with the way you're dressed, you could've fooled me." Sasuke interrupted, glaring daggers at the girl. She whimpered, almost ready to give up, but she just couldn't accept the fact that _her Sasuke_ was taken away by a stupid blonde! And the blonde was a boy for crying out loud!

"Fine! I'll leave but only after you prove to me that you're really his boyfriend!" She cried out.

Sasuke sighed and grabbed Naruto's chin lightly.

"Eh-?" was all Naruto could say before Sasuke pressed his lips against the blonde's in a light, yet fierce and possessive kiss. The surprise left Naruto's mouth slightly parted and Sasuke took that opportunity to slip his tongue inside. He didn't make the kiss too deep, but played with the inside of Naruto's bottom lip before pulling away, leaving a breathless Naruto, and a shocked girl.

The girl sputtered, trying to say a comeback, but couldn't. She suddenly pointed a finger at Naruto, like it everything was his fault.

"It's all your fault! You'll regret this!" She shrieked as she stomped away. Sasuke sighed in relief while Naruto was trying to process what just happened. _A girl came and was annoying Sasuke. The girl asked Sasuke to prove that I was Sasuke's boyfriend. And then Sasuke kissed me…Wait! __**Boyfriend? **_

Naruto whipped his head to face Sasuke, who still had his arms around him for some reason. The blonde tried to calm himself down and when he thought he was calm enough to talk, he spoke. "Uhm, you can let go now."

The blonde felt as if he has been saying that too often. Sasuke released Naruto and apologized. He stood up, brushed himself off, and motioned Naruto to stand up.

"Well let's go to the river and find Iruka and Kakashi."

Naruto jumped up. "Wait, you knew where the river was?"

Sasuke nodded. "Of course I did." He spoke matter of factly. "Now let's go. We can leave our stuff here. It's not like anyone's going to take them."

Naruto grumbled but followed Sasuke to the river. When he started hearing the sound of running water, he sped up, excited. Soon enough, a river came into view. Naruto marveled at the sight. The water was clear but very fast moving. It would be too dangerous to swim in it. Naruto's eyes trailed up the river and noticed the water was calmer there and spotted a family playing in the water.

He tried to look for any specks of brown or silver but could find none. He turned to Sasuke.

"So where are Iruka and Kakashi?" He asked. The raven shrugged.

"They'll pop up sooner or later." Sasuke made his way into the calmer waters, took off his shoes, and dunk his feet in the water. Naruto followed suit and was now standing near Sasuke. Feeling playful, he reached down to feel the water and suddenly brought his hand up, splashing Sasuke.

"H-hey! Sasuke yelped as the cold water splashed on his side. He scowled, but it quickly turned into a playful smirk. He noticed that Naruto had turned away and started whistling, probably to appear as inconspicuous as possible. He grabbed a handful of water and dumped it on Naruto's head, causing the blonde to yelp in surprise and quickly turn around.

He wiped the water from his eyes, shook his head, and yelled. "What was that for?"

Sasuke replied nonchalantly. "Oh you know, just wanted to get revenge." He trailed off and jumped out of the river onto a rock to avoid being splashed by Naruto. He smirked. "Missed me."

Naruto growled and lunged for Sasuke, intent on pushing him into the river, but moved a bit too fast and slipped, grabbing on to Sasuke to avoid falling. Sasuke, not prepared to catch the falling blonde nor steady himself, fell into the lake along with Naruto.

They both yelped in unison as cold water drenched their clothes. Luckily, Naruto didn't slam his head on a rock. The worst damage was that the two were now soaked, although, surprisingly, Sasuke's hair stayed dry while Naruto's hair was wet from before.

"Naruto, you dobe!" Sasuke complained as he dragged both himself and Naruto on a nearby rock, careful not to lose his footing and fall again. Naruto tried to apologize but he was too busy laughing. He actually didn't know why he was laughing so much, but he just found the whole situation humorous. Sasuke scowled, not getting what was so funny.

"What's so funny?"

Naruto gasped, out of breath from laughing so hard. He tried to reply, but Sasuke could only make out a few words; "Look…on…face…drowned cat…funny…surprised…" Naruto managed out between laughs. Sasuke shook his head and reached to take off his shirt. As soon as Naruto saw pale skin, his laughter stopped. He watched Sasuke peel off his soaking shirt and squeeze the water out of it. Sasuke noticed Naruto staring at him and flicked some water onto Naruto.

He jolted and blinked a few times.

"Stop staring and do the same. I'm pretty sure you don't want to get sick."

Naruto nodded and quickly took off his shirt, doing the same as Sasuke. He held on to his shirt and looked at Sasuke. The raven sighed, took the blonde's shirt, and laid them on a driy rock in the sun.

"Well we can't really take off our pants so just bear with it."

Naruto complained as his pants stuck uncomfortably to his skin but didn't say much, knowing it was his fault the two of them were soaked. He could feel a couple of eyes on him and Sasuke, probably girls admiring two good looking, shirtless boys. Naruto walked to a dry place in the sun and laid down, Sasuke did the same except he just sat down. The two looked like they were tanning when in actuality they were just trying to dry off.

After half an hour or so, Naruto jumped up, not liking having to stay in one position for so long.

"I'm going to go look for Iruka and Kakashi!" He declared. Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow. By now, he was lying down, relaxing in the sun.

"Do whatever you want. Just don't get lost."

Naruto beamed and started walking around, looking for any man with silver hair, since there were a lot of people with Iruka's brown hair. He caught a movement of grey at the corner of his eyes and turned. There, behind a rock, was a peak of silver hair. Naruto smiled and slowly made his way to the rock, only stopping because of the strange sounds resonating from behind the rock.

It sounded like… moans? Naruto slowly peeked from behind the rock. There, was Iruka and Kakashi, almost naked, doing something Naruto's virgin eyes would have rather not seen. Before Naruto could get a good look, he quickly dove behind the rock, hiding himself. His face was a dark scarlet as he ran as fast as he could to get away from there.

_Oh my god! I can't believe I just saw Iruka and Kakashi…Iruka and Kakashi…having SEX! Oh my god I wish I didn't see that! _Naruto tried his best to chase away the images that kept creeping into his head. Naruto screeched to a stop when he saw Sasuke.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, out of breath and flushed. At first, he thought it was only because Naruto was running but realized the blush was too dark. He raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

Naruto laughed nervously and waved his hands. "N-nothing! Nothing!"

Sasuke eyed the blonde suspiciously. "Then tell me why you came running as if your life depended on it and why your face is so red." Sasuke crossed his arms.

Naruto mentally wept. _That's because my live did depend on it! _Naruto started nervously.

"Well you see…" Naruto trailed off, not wanting to answer Sasuke's question. They stared at each other for a few seconds, maybe even for minutes when a cheerful voice interrupted them.

"Oh it seems you two are bonding well!" Kakashi called out from behind. His shirt was slightly messy and his belt was off by one loop while Iruka was slightly red was his normally neat ponytail a bit messy and off centered.

_Oh dear. _Naruto thought as he quickly lowered his eyes, images flashing into his mind again. His cheeks felt like they were on fire and he knew his blush was noticeable. Kakashi and Iruka seemed oblivious to Naruto's discomfort and sat next to Sasuke.

The raven noticed how Naruto blushed more when he saw Kakashi and Iruka and smirked. _So he walked in on them too, huh. They really should learn to do it at the right places. _Sasuke mused before getting up and stretching.

It was then when Iruka noticed both of them were shirtless.

"What happened to your shirts?"

Sasuke chuckled. "Naruto fell into the river and pulled me with him. Our shirts are over there" Sasuke pointed to the shirts lying on the rock, most likely dried by now, "Drying. I think they're done." He went to pick them up and tossed Naruto's shirt back to him. He caught it in a flustered movement, almost dropping the shirt onto a wet rock. He sighed in relief and quickly put on his shirts, watching Sasuke do the same.

Kakashi stood up. "Well we should get going. The sun's going to set soon."

Sasuke nodded, and just for fun, pointed at Kakashi's belt, as if just noticing. "Oh Kakashi. Your belt is off by one loop." He pointed out.

Kakashi chuckled and fixed it while Naruto looked away and flushed.

"Hm? Naruto, what's wrong?"

Oh boy. Things were going to be awkward for a while.

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><p>(1) Katsuboshi is basically dried bonito (fish) flakes and Nori is dried seaweed.<p>

(2) "The legs opening up" means the octopus sausages, common in Japanese Bento Boxes. You just cut out for legs on the tip of a sausage head and fry or boil them and eventually the cuts open up into tentacles/legs.

(3) Bento boxes: Basically Japanese lunch/picnic boxes, usually pertaining different colors such as yellow, green, red, black, and white.

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><p>Done! I hope you guys liked it! It was a tough chapter to write! I started at like 11:00 in the morning and I just finished it! Sorry, I was getting distracted alot...<p>

**Reviews are always appreciated! **

And for the girl in this chapter, I was going to make her Ino but I like Ino, so I didn't want her to be like an antagonist in this story. Then I was going to do Karin but I realized Karin is Sasuke's secretary...

The girl will be making a comeback in this story so I need to have a name and her characteristics. I don't know who to use so that's why I kept her descriptions vague. Should I make her a Naruto character or just an OC? Please give me a suggestion in a review!

Well, until the next chapter, bye~


	11. Chapter 11: Boyfriend

**IIMPORTANT! READ!**

Hey everyone! This is Yoru here with the next chapter of To See Beyond the Red Line! You guys are all probably wondering who I am and why Acrylis isn't here. Well, first things first, I'm one of Acrylis's good friend. We're working on a Kuroshitsuji collab together, go check it out! (Link is on her profile...I think) And Acrylis went out of state to visit a relative. I think she'll be back on Thursday or so. She actually wasn't expecting to visit, so she was rushing to finish this chapter, hence, the short chapter and not so great chapter title. It was a spoiler so she didn't want to use it, but she couldn't think of anything else.

She told me to post this chapter up today so...here it is!

She apologizes for the short chapter/filler, but this chapter is important!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All rights to Masashi Kishimoto.**

_Warning: Slight swearing, not a lot. SHORT CHAPTER._

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><p>For the whole car ride, Naruto could not meet Kakashi's or Iruka's eyes. Every time one of them asked him a question, he would blush, look away, and try to answer as fast as possible. Of course, the couple was too oblivious to notice the blonde's discomfort. But the ever watching raven would take note of every little fidget and blush, and laugh silently to himself. It was actually quite amusing to Sasuke. Naruto obviously did not want to be in the car, but still, Sasuke thought the blonde could at least pretend to not be disturbed. He knew if Naruto didn't change his act soon, the happy couple would notice Naruto's strange behavior. And sooner or later, they did.<p>

"Hm? Naruto what's wrong? You're all red, do you have a fever? Did you catch a cold?" Iruka worriedly asked as he reached back to touch Naruto's forehead. Naruto moved away and frantically started touching his cheeks and forehead.

"O-oh, am I? No, I think it's just really hot in here!" Naruto exclaimed while fanning himself to emphasize his point. Kakashi took that moment to make a joke.

"Sorry, that's just me." The silver haired man laughed. Naruto paled and whipped his head around so it wouldn't be visible to anyone in the car.

"Uh? Naruto it was a joke." Kakashi gleefully apologized before swerving the car to avoid hitting an incoming truck. All four people in the car held on at the sudden movement before Iruka's brows furrowed.

'Naruto, are you sure you don't have a fever? You're really red." Iruka asked. "Do you want me to open a window for you?"

Naruto nodded before opening a window, smiling as the cool wind hit his face. Iruka also opened his window, Kakashi following the same. Now, every window in the car was open except Sasuke's, but even so, with almost all the windows opened, wind and sound came rushing in, blowing hair into everyone's face. Naruto laughed and made a loud whoop in the air before thrusting his hands up.

Naruto felt weird, like he was twirling in a tornado. He couldn't exactly hear anything except the sound of cars rushing past and an occasional car horn or tire screech. Everyone in the car was laughing and giggling at the onslaught of wind except Sasuke, who was also making as much noise as the rest of them, but instead of laughing, he was yelling at them to close the window.

"Wha- Damn it, close the freaking windows!" Sasuke literally hollered. He sputtered in surprise when Naruto reached over to pat him on the back, rather roughly. It was like he was drunk.

"Oh come on, lighten up Sasuke!" And Naruto reached over to open Sasuke's window, much to the raven's displeasure. Naruto let another holler leave his mouth as wind slammed him on his face. He leaned back and watched as Sasuke frantically tried to close the window. When he finally managed to close it, he whipped his head and glared at Naruto.

"Don't do that again." He seethed. Naruto stared at Sasuke before turning his head and giggling. He was having too much fun to mind Sasuke's anger. His eyes turned to a car next to theirs. In the driver's seat, sat a women staring incredulously at the blaring car. It was no doubt that all the noise coming from Kakashi's car was attracting attention. Naruto took that chance to stick his tongue out and laugh at the face the women made. To his luck, right after he made the face, Kakashi decided to speed up, pulling ahead of the women's car.

Naruto did the same to a few other drivers and passengers who were caught staring, until he stuck his tongue out at a girl with blonde hair and light blue eyes. She was long bangs that covered one of her eye and the rest of her hair tied in a high ponytail. She was sitting in the passenger seat with a bored looking male in the driver's seat. When Naruto stuck his tongue out, the girl giggled before making a face right back at Naruto.

She stuck out her tongue and pulled down one of her eyes. At first, Naruto was surprised, but he soon became happy and excited that she decided to play along. For a few minutes, the two made funny faces at each other, each mirroring the other, without knowing that Sasuke was watching them.

Sasuke watched Naruto with a frown, wondering what had caught the blonde's attention so much. He leaned forward to try and get a close look at whoever it was and realized it was a girl. She was pretty, and looked a lot like Naruto. With a jealous flare, Sasuke realized that the girl and Naruto were well suited for each other, judging on appearance. And it seemed that their personalities matched well too.

Sasuke fought against the urge that told him to kiss Naruto and show that girl that Naruto was his, and decided to watch the interaction a bit. It wasn't like Naruto as really his, but still. It was then when Sasuke noticed the person driving, a boy. Sasuke thought for a while. _Was that her boyfriend?_

Sasuke watched as the girl suddenly pulled on a serious face and turned to the boy driving. Her mouth moved, hinting that she was saying something. She then glanced at Naruto, smiled, and waved before her car lurched forward, quickly passing Naruto's car.

Naruto smiled and waved back, even when he knew the girl couldn't see him, and slumped back down, his fun over with. He rolled the window back up and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Do you know her?" Sasuke's voice suddenly cut through the silence. Well, it wasn't silence per se, since Iruka and Kakashi's windows were still down and Sasuke had to raise his voice into an almost yell, but no one was talking until Sasuke spoke up.

"Who?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke sighed. "The girl in that car. The one you were making funny faces at." The raven explained.

Naruto laughed and shook his head. "No, she was just the only person that made a funny face back at me so I just wanted to have some fun and play along." The raven nodded, satisfied at the explanation, before turning his head to look through his window.

The rest of the car ride went on without much conversation, so the blonde quickly grew bored. He started thinking about all the fun things he did on that day. He thought about the pumpkins, the picnic, the tree, the rude girl, the river…His thoughts trailed off when he realized he was thinking about Kakashi and Iruka again. He blinked a few times before shaking his head furiously. _No no stop thinking, Naruto, Stop thinking. _He rubbed his hair while he tried to get the images out of his head.

Sasuke noticed the blonde sudden change in attitude at the corner of his eye. He turned his head to look at Naruto to find that he was once again back to blushing and fidgeting. He let out a chuckle and leaned towards Naruto.

"Does it bother you that much?" He asked slyly. He talked quietly, but he knew even if he talked with his normal voice, the couple in the front wouldn't hear him with their windows open.

Naruto jolted and whipped his head towards Sasuke. "What?"

Sasuke sighed, exasperated. "You probably saw Kakashi and Iruka do _something _at the river, right? That was why you came running." He emphasized the "something" with a slight wave of his eyebrow.

Naruto flinched away. "What are you talking about?"

"You saw Kakashi and Iruka do it when you were looking for them back at the river." Sasuke stated matter of factly, as if that face did nothing to bother him. He realized he was right when Naruto didn't answer. Well he already knew he was right, but it never hurt to make sure. After a few seconds, maybe even minutes, he decided to give the blonde a break.

"Well it's all right. Happens to everyone, don't be bothered by it. And don't feel awkward with them. It'll only get annoying later on." Sasuke reassure Naruto. The words were well chosen because it snapped Naruto out of his blush.

He let out a sheepish grin. "You're right, I'm just acting immature." Naruto paused. "Wait, it doesn't happen to everyone."

Sasuke smirked. "Oh yes it does. You'd be surprised."

Naruto nodded and kept in mind to be careful around Kakashi and Iruka when he heard…_strange_ noises from where they were, They, he suddenly remembered Sasuke calling him his boyfriend when they were talking to the girl, or rather, fending her off. He hadn't had a chance to ask Sasuke about it. He opened his mouth to talk when Kakashi's voice interrupted.

"Okay we're here!" He cheered as the car reached to a complete stop. Naruto blinked and looked around. He hadn't noticed they had already reached Sasuke's apartment. Sasuke opened the door and stepped out, waiting for Naruto to come out.

"Naruto, get out of the car. Kakashi and Iruka have to get home too."

Naruto scrambled out of the car and apologized.

"Well you two have a good night." Iruka called out while Kakashi backed the car out of the driveway. Naruto watched as their car grew smaller and smaller into the night. The sun had set fairly fast that night. Sasuke and Naruto walked in the building and stepped in the elevator. The door closed with a soft ding and Naruto watched as each number lit up one by one.

He quickly remembered to ask Sasuke and opened his mouth to talk, before any outside thing could interrupt him.

"Sasuke?" He started hesitantly. He had no idea what the raven's answer would be and somewhere deep down, he knew he was hoping for the positive one.

"Hm?" The raven answered, sounding rather tired. He was leaning against the wall and Naruto could indeed tell that Sasuke was tired and wanted to sleep. _Oh yeah, Sasuke liked his sleep. _He aimlessly thought before the ding of the elevator door snapped him back to reality.

Sasuke quickly walked out to the hallway, not even waiting for Naruto to follow him. He knew the blonde wouldn't get lost and besides, he really wanted to get some sleep. It wasn't too far in the night but Sasuke had awoken quite early that day to review the revisions Iruka had on his newest manuscript, and finish his other work so he had the rest of the day free to do anything he wanted.

"Damn it." Naruto cursed under his breath before quickly following Sasuke. He usually wasn't one to curse or use profanities, even if it was just minor, but the frustration and curiosity was killing him. Actually, he wasn't bothered much by the raven's statement until he really thought about it.

Sasuke dragged his feet behind him as he walked to his apartment. He unlocked the door and swung it open, quickly stepping out of his shoes before going into his bedroom to change. He left the key in the lock, knowing that Naruto would take it out and lock the door.

He quickly changed out of his shirt and into his sleepwear. He stared at the bathroom door, debating on whether to take a shower or not but decided to just take one the next morning. Either way, he stepped in the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. When he was done, he quickly stepped in bed. By the time Naruto had changed into his own sleepwear, Sasuke was already lying on his bed, practically falling asleep while waiting for Naruto to also sleep so he could turn off the light,

Naruto quickly stepped in bed, feeling a bit awkward because of his previous dream. He schooched a bit to the side so he wasn't as close to Sasuke, but the raven didn't notice for he was too busy falling asleep. After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling, the blonde quietly whispered.

"Sasuke, are you awake?"

The raven shifted in his sleep before grumbling a quiet 'what'. Naruto realized he would get a clearer answer if he asked tomorrow morning and sighed, giving up.

"Never mind, go to sleep." He mumbled before turning over to his side.

"Good night." Sasuke mumbled out before quickly falling asleep. While the raven was out like a light, the blonde stayed awake and vigilant of every movement Sasuke made, before finally succumbing to sleep.

* * *

><p>The loud shrill sound of an alarm clock harshly awoke both boys. Sasuke jolted into a sitting position while Naruto almost screamed and fell to the floor. Sasuke grabbed the alarm clock before throwing in on the ground, silencing its loud cries. Sasuke was not in a good mood, or so it seemed. He had work today. He slowly made his way to the bathroom and took a quick shower, hoping the water would wake him up.<p>

Naruto sat on the bed, watching Sasuke slowly come out of the bathroom, and just as slowly make his was to his closet to get dressed.

"Uhm, Sasuke? Are you okay?" Naruto asked. He knew Sasuke wasn't a morning person, but was he always this quiet and slow?

"What? Sorry, let me have my coffee first." Sasuke mumbled out. Naruto realized that Sasuke had only chosen the clothes he was going to wear and had not yet changed into them. He followed Sasuke to the kitchen and quickly started making coffee, knowing Sasuke wouldn't, not at his current state. When the coffee was done, he poured Sasuke and himself a cup, and handed it to the raven.

Sasuke gulped dowm the hot coffee, not caring If it lightly scalded his tongue and lips. He enjoyed the warm feeling of when the coffee went down his throat. Before he knew it, the coffee was gone. He was about to ask Naruto to give him more coffee, but realized it would sound lazy. So he got up and poured more coffee into his mug, not even waiting to sit down before drinking again.

After he was done with his second cup, he was finally awake and functional. He got up to put the mug in the sink, when Naruto spoke up.

"So Sasuke." He started.

"What?"

"Uh-well." He hesitated.

Sasuke cut in. "Can you tell me this later? I have to get ready for work now. Sorry." And with that said, he went to his room to change into his semi formal clothes; a pair of slacks, a dress shirt, and a tie.

Naruto's head snapped up. _I don't want to wait until you get back from work! _And he quickly followed Sasuke into his room. He watched as the raven started changing before speaking again.

"So do you remember when we were at that tree, and there was that girl?" Naruto asked in a small voice.

Sasuke stopped his movements for a while, thinking, before continuing his actions and nodding. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Do you remember when you, uh-." He started off very slowly, "Said that I was your boyfriend?" He finished with a squeaky voice.

Sasuke stopped to stare at Naruto. The blonde was fidgeting and looking all over the room, probably to not meet the raven's eyes.

"Yes, I do."

Naruto looked up. "But, I'm not your boyfriend." He stated, while slightly frowning. He didn't like how that sounded.

Sasuke took a deep breath and looked at Naruto.

"Yes, I'm aware of that."

"Then why'd you tell her I was your boyfriend?" He asked, his heart beating wildly. He didn't know why he was getting so excited.

"Well that's because," Sasuke felt a lie at the tip of his tongue. _It was the best excuse to make her go away. _He could just say that, and it'll be done with. But for some reason, that was not what he wanted to say. And those words weren't the words that spilled from his mouth. "That's because I _want_ you to be my boyfriend."

Naruto's eyes widened and he sputtered, not expecting Sasuke to be so blunt about it.

"Ah- well, I uh-" _Speak Naruto, speak! Say something!_

Sasuke's eyes widened and he had to fight the urge to cover his mouth with his hands. _Oh shit. What did I just say? _Sasuke frantically looked around before drawing back his calm demeanor and relaxing his shoulders. _Oh well, the damage is already done, might as well go along with it. _

Sasuke cleared his throat, catching the blonde's attention. "So, do you want to be my boyfriend?" He asked, feelings slightly awkward. Sasuke's shoulder relaxed. He knew this was going to happen sooner or later. He had already noticed his feelings for the blonde a while back, when Naruto fell on him after his shower.

Naruto's breath caught. _What? WHAT! What did he just ask me? Be his boyfriend? Speak Naruto, talk, say something! Don't just stand there, quick, before he leaves! _ Naruto willed his mouth to talk, but just as he opened, Sasuke interrupted, again.

"Well if you don't want to, then that's fine. But don't run away like last time." He said calmly, watching the blonde's every movement.

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists before taking a deep breath and stare at Sasuke.

"Okay." Was all he could manage out. Naruto mentally kicked and slapped himself for that stupid, unintelligent answer. _AUGH, stupid, stupid stupid!_

Sasuke stared and frowned, confused at the blonde's reply. "Okay to what?"

Naruto took a deep breath; there was no turning back now. "Okay to…" He trailed off, almost turning back before gaining his confidence again. "Okay to be your boyfriend."

Sasuke blinked at the blonde's response. He was _not _expecting that. He thought the blonde would reject him at first, and _maybe _come back later, but he was wrong. And it was actually the first time he was glad that he was wrong.

For a few minutes, the new couple stared at each other awkwardly, not knowing what to say, until Sasuke cleared his throat.

"So, we're officially dating now, am I right?" He asked slowly.

Naruto blushed lightly and nodded. "Yeah, I guess we are."

Then suddenly, Sasuke turned around and headed towards the door. "Well I'm glad we cleared that up. I have to go to work now. I'll see you when I get back."

Naruto sputtered. "What! So you're just gonna leave? Did you even really want me as your boyfriend?" He fumed.

Sasuke turned around. "Of course I do. If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked." He said a matter of factly.

Naruto frowned. "But you're just going to leave and go to work?" He asked.

Sasuke shrugged. "Well yeah, I have to get to work." He paused before smirking. "What, do you want a goodbye kiss?"

The blonde flushed and turned away. "What, no of course not!"

Sasuke chuckled before walking closer to Naruto. "Are you sure about that?"

"Wha-yes I'm sure. Now go to work!" Naruto turned around, startled to see that Sasuke's face was a mere inched away from his face. He gulped and when Sasuke started inching towards Naruto, the blonde panicked and grabbed a small pillow that was in his reach and stuffed it on Sasuke's face.

"Wha-" Sasuke made a muffled yelp of surprise,

"GO TO WORK!"

* * *

><p>Aaaaand that was it! I don't really know what to say and I'm pretty sure Acrylis will put something on here later so...<p>

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Bye bye!


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